I work at the Barn with some really wonderful young Moms. They often talk about what’s going on with their kids and families and now and then I hear something that really piques my interest. Michele McCarthy, one of our Barn co-Managers (who has worked for me for 10 years) told me about a project her husband, Mike, and her son, Cody are involved with this summer: raising chickens! It sounded like a great idea as well as something that would be fun for our readers (and their kids) to follow so Auntie M sat down with Cody and Michele to learn all about Cody’s new venture. – Joan
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Q: So who decided you should get chickens?
Cody: My dad did. He thought it could be something we could do together and that it would be fun.
Michele: We had been talking about getting chickens because I want to know where our food comes from. You really don’t know even if things are labeled “organic”. When you raise chickens yourself, you know exactly what you’re feeding them and that they’re being treated humanely.
Q: Where are you getting your chickens?
Cody: We got them online from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We got them Monday…they came in the mail.
Q: What…they mailed them? Really?
Cody: Yeah…they called and said “your chicks are here”
Michele: Cody’s Uncle Scott picked them up at the post office for us and brought them home.
Q: How many are there?
Cody: There’s 25 meat chickens – they’re yellow and bigger and 25 others.
Q: So you got 50 chicks. The other chicks…are they for laying eggs?
Cody: Yes. And one of them is “exotic”.
Michele: When you get 50 chicks they give you one free exotic breed but they don’t tell you what breed it is.
Q: It’s a surprise?
Cody: Yeah. We already named him –”Carlos” – even though we’re not sure which one it is.
Q: But it’s not one of the meat chickens.
Cody: No.
Q: So…the meat chickens…that means they’re for eating. Are you okay with that? Won’t that make you sad?
Cody: Yeah…but I’m not going to look.
Q: Do you have a chicken coop for them?
Cody: Not yet. They’re in a tub right now with a heating lamp to keep them warm. It has to be 90 degrees.
Q: Are you going to do all the work taking care of them…like feeding them.
Cody: Yeah. I’ll feed them, and clean them and everything.
Q: How old are they now?
Michele: They were a day old when they were sent and we got them Monday so they’re now 3 days old.
Cody: My uncle showed us how to teach them to drink. You dip them in the water so they learn where the water is…otherwise they won’t drink.
Q: What do you feed them?
Cody: It’s a mash.
Q: Made out of corn and stuff?
Cody: Yeah. The meat birds eat a lot. More than the laying birds.
Michele: They’re really aggressive about their food.
Q: How long will they stay in their tub.
Michele: Just a couple more weeks. We need to have the coop finished by then. Mike is going to make a fenced area for them around 30′ x 30′ that we’ll be able to move around so they’re not in the same spot all the time.
I thanked Cody for his time and asked him to send me pictures and let me know what’s going on with the chicks every couple of weeks. Next time we hope we’ll have some pictures of Cody’s Chicken Coop!
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Good luck with all those chicks. That’s quite a project.
Dear Cody, I think your chickens are very, very cute. My friend Eden has chickens too. when did you get your chiks?
but edens are big now agen I love your chiks!
love
l i l l i e
Cody,
I think you will do a very good job and have lots of fun with your chickens.
Grammy
Cody, I really hope you have better luck with your chickens than I did!!! (you know what I mean!) Great talking with you last night at The Golden Scissor Salon! Love, Bernadette