With the rising cost of inflation and my desire of becoming as sustainable as I can be, I decided to purchase some baby chicks! My dog and I are very excited. My friend is picking them up in the next few days, so I am prepping my backyard for them.
I bought a chicken coup online and have to put it together. It doesn’t look super complicated, so I am hoping to be able to have it up and ready by the end of the day. I bought a basin for them to stay inside for the first couple months, because they are too little to handle the outside elements right now.
The directions for the coop says it will take 2 people about 45 minutes to complete. I am giving myself 3 hours to complete it. I charged my drill and cleared my schedule.
A few years ago my ex and I had chickens and it was great. My dog, CoCo, watched over them as if she was their mother. When they were babies and still had to be inside, she would stand guard and make sure they were all safe in their basin. One time a chick flew out of the basin and couldn’t get back in. It must have been giving out a distress chirp, because the way CoCo ran to help her was speed only a mother can have. She gently picked her up with her mouth and dropped her back in the basin with her friends. It was adorable and my heart burst.
I feel like having chicks will not only be beneficial for health and financial reasons, but also for my pup. She’s aging and I think having her attention focused on caring for these new animals will help give her energy that has otherwise been dissipating.
The coop took me about 3 hours to complete by myself. To be completely honest it isn’t finished. I don’t like their “outside” space and I want to make it bigger, so I have to make a trip to the hardware store to make this happen. All in all though I am happy with how it turned out. I’m proud that I did it. it was a little daunting to tackle this alone, but it was manageable.
I am now exhausted and will spend the rest of the day on my couch.
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