Rural Gardening: Newbie hoping to raise hens in the city - several questions, 0 by sbarr

sbarr wrote:
I think we're well situated - I have them in a HEAVY (took 2 of us and a moving dolly) rabbit hutch - about 3 X 6 feet, raised off the ground. It's about half instead and half outside. The wire is very heavy 1/2 inch wire and both front and back lock - although I need to teach Lindsey how to lock it since she knows how to open it. It's also very protected - my friend kept hers in the winter in very cold weather with just a lightbulb.

Seller suggested that I leave them in the hutch for a week so they KNOW their space - happy to do that. We've been giving them a variety of foods, including crumble, grit, oyster shells as well as cantaloupe, tomatoes and other scraps. I think we're also going to get an EE chicken (seller doesn't know the color, but she's pretty and it would make a good complement to our little flock).

I never thought chickens would be so fun! I think I'll limit it to 3 - that should be enough for the 2 of us and to take treats to the neighbors, especially if we get blue or green from the EE hen.

We ate our first peach today - it was 3-4 days premature, a little sweet, a bit crunchy like an apple - I just can't wait for the load of peaches to come in next week - our dwarf tree has almost a hundred peaches - way too many for the two of us to eat fresh. We'll have to look for recipes that don't involve complicated canning.