We got 6 New Hampshire Reds this spring at Easter time from the local tractor supply store and LOVE them! My husband built them a nest box/coop for protection, a place to lay and sleep at night. We have 6 foot tall fence around our backyard so they are basically free range chickens who occasionally walk along the top of the fence and have hopped over but always fly/jump back into the yard quickly. We have a Doberman Pinscher whose doghouse is in the backyard and looks after this little flock lovingly, believe it or not! They are about 4 months old now and we are impatiently waiting for eggs! A few of our neighbors are enamored or at least interested in them, but we have heard through the grapevine that many of them just think we are trashy or redneck or hillbillies for having chickens in the city. We are from Iowa so we are shocked that so many Iowans look down on raising chickens as dirty and trashy! Most of them think nothing of buying and eating eggs and chicken meat, so I guess I don't get it. I am from a family that has roots in farming and once I am done with schooling to be a nurse practitioner in a year, we have dreams of owning our own farm with a large flock! Our entire family loves these 6 red ladies and they are funny and interesting. I have no landscaping in the backyard anymore as we found hens LOVE hostas, rose bushes, ferns, and the stray leaves of my garden plants that poke through the chain link fence. On the other hand, when my garden lettuce and spinach get too mature and go to seed, the hens love to eat it up as I pull out the plants and love the fruits, veggies noodles, rice, bread, cereal, and crackers we have as left overs. I never knew just how much hens love left overs! Love this site and the threads and it has helped me immensely in learning to raise our ladies! Thanks for the inspiration and education!
Sara B in Iowa
Sara B in Iowa
