As “refugees” from the hustle, bustle and often chaos of urban living, my wife and I retired to a rural setting. We purchased some raw acreage and began the process of developing it with a house and a couple of outbuildings for storage and shop facilities. We attempted to be as self-reliant as possible. Having had little previous experience in rural living, we have spent years living on a “learn-as-you-go” basis in adapting to our new lifestyle.
With the advent of our first spring, we considered livestock and settled on raising chickens for eggs and meat, buying 15 chicks at the local feed-supply store. We took home 13 hens and two roosters. While the chicks were housed in temporary brooder facilities, we quickly constructed a coop and an outside run for that size of a flock. Once matured, the hens laid anywhere from six to a full dozen eggs a day in the first year, depending on their moods, the weather and the season. The roosters fought and played Casanova to the hens throughout the year, with one becoming dominant and the other so intimidated that he wouldn’t go outside without being chased back into the coop.