2005 was the last time we had chickens, eek!
My middle son was a year old, and my youngest hadn’t been born. He’s never held a chick before. *hangs head* I failed as a parent.
2020 will remedy that, finally. At least they’re past the age of nearly squishing the birds in toddler excitement.
Like pretty much EVERYTHING to do with Canada, what I know, doesn’t apply in the cold north:
I’m looking at breeds more carefully (floofy/insulated birds that are good layers, not just pretty girls), considering coop insulation much more seriously, I see that light supplementation is needed, and several other factors (i.e. make sure their perch is wide enough so their feet don’t overhang and get frostbite – that kind of thing) that just never would have every crossed my mind without a lot of research.
I found a lovely, in depth (and printable) guide from the University of Alberta here (if the link someday stops working, send me a note; I’ve also downloaded it), and they also offer chicks for sale, though there are several breeders I’m looking at, as well. We have a PID set up already, so once we work out what we are doing for a coop (build as well as location), I’ll get those babies ordered and we’ll have our first step taken into becoming a real farm.
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