I it incredible to me how fast chickens grow. In my last post, the chickens were these tiny little creatures. Now it seems as if they are big birds that I can no longer fit within the grasp of my two hands!

Their coop is complete, which I am very happy about. The chickens now have a warm and safe place to sleep at night! It is actually a resin garden shed from Lowe’s that I am converting into a coop. I have a makeshift roost which works for the time being, and I will eventually install some nesting boxes!

I will most likely order some day-old chicks in late winter, that way I can start them off in a brooder indoors and then mid-spring move them outside when they are old enough. When all is said and done, I hope to have about 10 laying chickens. This way I have enough eggs to sell and still end up with some for myself.

I understood when I bought my chicks that they were too young to be sexed. This means of course that there is a 50% chance that any of them could be male or female. The woman I bought them from was pretty certain that I was receiving four females… I posted photos of the chicks on BackyardChickens.com and the results are not good! Several of the members are pretty sure I have a couple roosters. I am not entirely opposed to the idea of keeping roosters, but I’m sure the neighbors would file complaints over the crowing. And besides, I want edible eggs, not more chicks!

Raising hens for eggs has long been a fantasy of mine. My fantasy is now a reality! I picked up four chickens from a lovely family in Greene, NY. I purchased 2 Black Australorp and 2 Buff Orpington for $4 each. They are about 2 weeks old. For now they are inside with a 250w heat lamp, but once they have a full set of feathers they will be (almost) free range outside. Once I have the coop under construction, I will post photos of my coop and run. For now, some photos of the chicks: