I can so relate to your experience. We got our chicks the end of February. We are also first time owners. I was so excited. The chicks were purchased between my mom and my sister with the coop going to her house as she is the only one that can have them according to our zoning. For now they have been inside at my mom’s. The mess, the flying about and the many other experiences you shared have been experienced by us as well. Sadly though, our winter too has been so awful and so long that we have to give our chicks up. We can’t get the coop built yet because the space where it is going is still buried in snow! We have to be able to dig down and get fencing around the run buried because of all the critters in the area, including coyotes. My sister doesn’t live on Coyote Trail because it sounds neat. The ground was frozen more than five feet below the surface. We cannot wait that long to give our girls the space they need. Fortunately, I found someone that would take them. Note to self, don’t put the cart before the horse. Build the coop first THEN get the chicks. You know what they say, if you build it they will come. For now, our days of having our own chicks is on hold. Perhaps we will try again next spring IF the land ever thaws and we can get the coop built this fall. Enjoy your eggs. I’m so jealous!

Nicole, I love this blog about your chickens. It is funny and cute! Pictures are pretty of you and others of chickens are great. Very informative too.
Love you,
Mother

Nicole, So fun to hear about your experiences! We’ve been keeping a small flock of chickens for about 15 years now and it’s my favorite ‘farm girl’ activity. Now that our boys are older and have many other things to do (besides helping with chicken chores), they want to get rid of them. My sweet husband, who knows how much I love them, tells the boys that, “Your mother loves these chickens and, even though it is more expensive to keep them than to just buy eggs, we are keeping them”. I was so touched upon hearing him say that, but its true; more expensive than just buying eggs AND a delight to me. The nice part is that you can get that fun chick experience again and again as you need new flock members! Currently we have a buff rock, speckled Sussex, golden laced Wyandotte, black australorp, and a partridge rock. So pretty just to see them walking around outside! Have fun with yours this summer!
Blessings, Dena

Does this mean I get fresh bbq chicken next time I come visit?

I remember when I got my first chicks about five years ago. I got three chicks, a how-to backyard chicken book, and while they were brooding in a second bedroom (no basement here, or room in the garage), I built their tractor. This wasn’t the ideal way to go because of all the same lessons Nicole learned. No chickens in a bedroom again–and they were there for nine weeks because that’s what the book recommended. I live in a suburb of Portland, OR, and we have pretty moderate weather most of the time. But the day we finally put them outside in their new tractor, a thunder/hail/rain storm rolled in of nearly disaster-movie proportions. Their run was covered by a blue tarp (I’m smart, I’m smart–huh), which sagged in the middle under the weight of all the pouring rain and I could hear their terrified screeching out there. It was a rude transition from the comfort of a lamp-heated plastic tub in the house to the real world. I felt like the worst chicken mother in the world.

Those first three girls are gone now. The first died over night last summer, the second one got killed by a new dog (!!), and I knew the third one would pine away with no companion. So she went to live with a flock kept by a local meteorologist in the Columbia Gorge. This time I have started pullets coming in mid-May so I can skip the brooding portion of the show. Keeping chickens has been one of the best experiences of my life!

I think that your first egg being a double yolker is a sign. You will be a great chicken mom! I usually get 50 chickens each spring. I usually get a different breed each year so I know which ones need to “leave home” each year. Every few years I lose my entire flock to the various critters that visit in the night. This past fall was one of those years. I am starting fresh this spring, I love watching my new babies grow. I do sell eggs and sometimes the meat chickens. I still miss the girls in my very first flock from six years ago, so I don’t get quite as attached to them now. Enjoy. For me, there is nothing more relaxing than sitting in the shade in the evening and watching the girls browse the yard.