Robert and I had been talking for a few months about building a new chicken coop and getting some chickens (again). When I found out over Thanksgiving that my uncle and aunt gave my dad some chickens, I was super excited. He didn’t feel that he had enough room, so he said that we could have them as soon as we build a coop!

Last weekend, Robert went to work. He first built the coop, then he put together a pin for the girls.

We will eventually build a larger coop, we just needed to get one built quickly!

A few days later, my parents brought the girls to us. Unfortunately, they all look exactly the same, so we haven’t named them this time.

The kids love feeding them, gathering their eggs, and playing with them!

Here are some pictures of the girls

We do let them out of their pin, but this is their home . The coop is mainly to sleep and stay out of bad weather. They are pretty safe right there, in the corner of our yard.

I can’t wait to start using them to create compost! Backyard Chickens has written a great article on Composting with Chickens.

So one of the questions that I get a lot is “WHY?” Why would we want chickens? Not only do they give us fresh eggs, they also provide a wonderful compost, are a great way to be somewhat self-sufficient (we have a long way to go!), and they are great pets! So, I ask the question back, “why not??”