It has been a long time since I have had chickens to write about.
In 2013, we went to NC to take a turn taking care of my mom. We were there till Aug 2015 and then went back in 2017 till May 2020. My mom passed away August 10, 2022 so we are now home for good. I miss my mom but she was ready to be with the Lord. She was 98.

I ordered 25 Americauna (hen) chicks in May of 2020 and I sold part of them but still have 14 laying hens. I never had even one die. I always get McMurray Hatcheries to vaccinate for the two chicken diseases.

So I ordered 27 (two roosters) Americaunas that were delivered Aug 23 this year. My plan is to raise them and then sell them as laying hens and make a little money. I really enjoy baby chicks so it is a fun hobby that I can make a little money from, too. McMurray sent one extra hen so I plan to sell about 20 for 25 dollars each. I paid 120 for the chicks. The variable will be the feed costs since everything is more expensive right now. But, even if I broke even, it is still fun. Plus I got roosters this time so I can hatch out chicks.

We built a 24×48 chicken yard with 5 foot tall fencing. We bought an 8×8 shed with no floor for 1300 dollars and put it on the edge of the rectangular fenced in yard. We put 2x4s attached to the studs so there are two perches across the back. Then we put the 4 nests, which are milk crates, in the front, two on each side. Then we had an extra set of wooden mobile home steps that we put in the center so the chickens can get up on the perches. The large door allows more air flow and if need be, we could close the chickens up at nights and even lock them in.
We need to put some vents in the walls first. We also bought a 25×50 foot net and covered the entire yard. Chicken hawks are our only real threat. We let our chickens out to free range every day. I like to keep them in their yard till about 4pm to make sure they lay in their nests.

I hope you find a breed of chicken you enjoy raising. I love the colored eggs from sky blue to olive green.