1st Flock of Chicks

When we first moved to Kansas, we rented a ranch-styled home that sat on 10 acres, 2 of which were fenced in. The long, private drive with a lion gate made you feel like The Pioneer Woman! (Can I just say I love her to pieces) The house had a beautiful screened-in porch and 3 enormous bay windows in the Master bedroom, providing an amazing view of wildlife outside. I was so excited to experience country living on this property!

In an effort to help control ticks, we decided to get baby chicks from the Farmer’s Market! We obviously had enough space for them. They were a phenomenal natural bug control, eating everything in sight!

Unfortunately when you get chickens you don’t realize everything else wants to eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Many times I ran outside trying to scare off coyotes, fox, raccoons, and hawks that were very interested in a chicken meal. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought when they saw me run outside banging on a pan!!! (Ha!) It was so stressful having to make sure they were safe from predators all the time. After all, I had become very attached to these animals. The thought of loosing them to predators was devastating.

I learned a lot from our raising our first flock of hens in the country. A lot of chicken raising is trial and error and finding what works for you.

After renting for a while, our offer was accepted on a house in the suburbs. Although country life was amazing in so many ways, we needed to buy closer to town… better suiting our commuting needs. It didn’t seem fair to confine our chickens to a run after living their lives free-ranging. Luckily, some friends agreed to give our chickens a proper life on their acreage. We knew our chicken owning days were not over though and the fun had just begun! 🐔