As a little kid I knew I wanted many animals. Yes, kitties and doggies… BUT, I have always dreamed of having a little mini farm. Which is weird since I have zero desire to live in the country… I’m a city girl.
I grew up in the country…. My parents had a small bit of land, 5 acres, but we never did anything with it. We just lived in BFE (ahem: butt fudging Egypt…. What we called it growing up… since it was in the middle of nowhere).
So, when I was 11 I made a decision. I actually saved any and all cash I earned to raise money to buy an Alpaca (I know, random). I saved a LOT of money too. I did many chores, sold daffodils at the end of our driveway, etc. I saved over $400 and my parents suddenly realized how serious I was about this whole Alpaca thing… They had to tell me “no” (turns out you need a fence for farm animals… hee… and they cost money to feed, etc). So, like the responsible preteen I was… I went out and spent all my saved money on a CD Player and a Gameboy (and buying the Coolio album… Gangsta’s Paradise! ha).
I understand why my parents never let us get farm animals, because I bet eventually they would have done most of the work (darn lazy teenagers) not to mention the cost of keeping them alive.
Now that I’m a grownup (ha, that made me laugh), I’m ready for my little farm. I don’t see any Alpacas on my small small SMALL property… But, we are prepping to get 2-3 chickens next spring! I’m so excited. We’ve been saving and are going to build a little picket fence around our home! Get some chicken wire along the bottom, and attempt to build our own chicken coop. Attempt being the key word. I will be sure to document the whole mess err project.
And, who knows… Maybe the year after that, Miss R can convince her daddy to get a bunny… and a goat. Ha ha ha (I may be whispering the idea into her ear while she sleeps).
So, yup: we will have the start to our own little urban farm, by next spring! I’m reallllly excited.
P.S. I was guest tweeting for Whole Foods this last weekend… and, they had this lovely lady chatting about urban farming. She’s owned over 80 different breeds of chickens. It was fantastic listening to her.
Tags: about me, chicken, chicken in the city, childhood, farmer, my home improvement
Categories: about me, paper mama farm
You should check out "The Art of Doing Stuff" blog…she built a chicken coop last year (i think) and has a tutorial and everything…plus, she's hilarious. added bonus. good luck!
Neat! Thank you!
I love that idea and can't wait to see how it goes! I really like the idea of having a few chickens and maybe some other animals (I'm a knitter and having an alpaca would be knitter heaven) but I also have no desire to live in the country, so I'm excited to see how it all pans out.
Ha ha! I'll let you know how it goes. <3
Oh gorgeous! My family had two wee bantam chooks when I was a kid 😉 Are you planning to raise them from chicks? If you do chances are you won't have to worry too too much about chicken wiring the fence (so long as they have an enclosure that's safe from carnivorousness) they'll know where they live and who the food comes from! Plus they'll let you handle them, and pet them, and cuddle them….
That's my plan, raising from little brand new chicks. I want them to be more like pets. 🙂 I think the chicken wire is more to keep neighborhood dogs out. Ha!
Whoo hoo! Happy Chickens! I REALLY want an alpaca…and a goat….and a sheep….just for my pets. 😡
Seriously.
i want chickens just not the responsibility. lol maybe i'll change my mind once i have a stable-r house situation. lol apartment chickens? nahsomuch. lol
Ha ha! Apartment chickens. Might work. 😉
Yes, I bet there's a food bank or something that would definitely take them.
Dude, I'll get an alpaca if you do 🙂 Me thinks the homeowners association will not be hip to that. Funny, I think chickens are trending because I have no less than 3 friends who own them now, in various settings. My kids would DIE for any animal, but the truth is, we had dogs for 15 years and the kids took the last one's passing SO hard, we aren't mentally prepared for another animal that may or may not live long. I got upset when our last fish died. Of course, if I had it my way, we'd have horses and cows and ducks an alpacas…and a farmer to help me take care of them!
Oh, that's hard. Angus is 7… so, he probably has another 7 years… which means it will be really hard when R is 9 or 10 and he moves on. 🙁 Maybe the chickens will be good for her. I'm so excited. P.S. I think an Alpaca in the city is awesome. Ha!
Lol I love how kids always want the most random things! I can't wait to read all about your new chicken adventures!
I still sort of want an Alpaca…. 😉
OMG. AWESOME. My dream of owning chickens has been kind of dashed ever since I became vegan (if you don't eat eggs, and you don't eat chickens … why have chickens?!) but I am still looking for an excuse to have them someday! Yay for you!
Well, the chickens we are looking into lay 4/week. They are supposed to be very nice, good with kids. You could always donate the eggs. 🙂
Donating the eggs!!! This is a great idea!
How Fun! Our town is pretty strict with the rules about chickens.. so they are a no-go for now. But when we move (several years downt he road) We plan on getting a bigger piece of property, just for chickens! My husband grew up selling fresh eggs to his neighbors. They had about a dozen chickens. I want that sooo badly.
Darn! We are in the city, but they allow 3 chickens (no roosters) without a permit. I think you can get up to 12 with a permit. 😀
I am actually doing this same thing next spring! We are looking to buy our first home right now and are specifically looking for a bit of land with it to start our own little "homestead" or "farm" or whatever. I've wanted chickens forever! (Whoa, did that just actually come out of my mouth? ha!) I can't wait to read about your chicken adventures. 🙂
How exciting! Good luck on your chicken adventures.