I had the pleasure of having Flat Aggie visit my farm in eastern Iowa! He was pretty excited to come and see everything that we raise on our farm. Much to his surprise, he never thought he would be working with chickens!

Westwind Farm has many things to offer; beef, veggies, fruits, chicken meat, eggs, corn, and hay. I wanted to show Flat Aggie a different side of my farm. I wanted to show him one of my favorite hobbies!

So to start off, I took Flat Aggie inside to do some research on chicken coops! I wanted to show him how much it takes to raise chickens and that you really need to be prepared before you start to raise any. He discovered that chickens need a very warm spot to live their first few weeks of life—they require a heat lamp/brooder! We visited the Chicken Whisperer’s page for information!

Next on the list was getting the coop ready for the babies and getting them all settled in! I bought 5 black sex-linked pullets from the local hatchery. Flat Aggie was there to help with the process!

The next part is my FAVORITE PART! Putting the new babies in their new home! They came in a little box (keeps them feeling safe and from harm) and then we just have to transfer them into their home! Flat Aggie was really excited about this and couldn’t WAIT. I was a tad excited too.

Once we got them in their home, we had to make sure that they had food and water. We also had to make sure they were getting plenty of heat from the heat lamp. (Lowering the lamp gets more heat to them or raising it makes it less hot.) Flat Aggie got right in the pen to make sure the new babies were happy! He loved touching their soft feathers and seeing them run around.

After we got the babies settled we went and checked out the other hens we have on the farm. My dad has some hens that he started earlier so we went to check them out! There were so many different breeds and Flat Aggie learned so much about chickens and their eggs. Did you know that whatever color a chicken’s ear color is, is the color their eggs are? Pretty neat stuff! He also learned that hens need oyster shells to provide great, strong egg shells and they need grit to help break down their food in their gizzard (the chicken’s stomach). Flat Aggie also learned that chickens like to ‘roost’. Meaning that they like to sit on sticks and twigs that are higher in the air. He really enjoyed seeing the older hens roosting!

One last stop with Flat Aggie before the chicken day was all done. We went to check on the babies and make sure they were all settled in. Well according to the above picture—they were pretty snug and so was Flat Aggie. He didn’t realize how much work chickens can be. He also didn’t realize how much he enjoyed them! After his stop on Westwind Farm, he told me that he was going to have to invest in come hens! So if you have any questions about chickens, ask me or Flat Aggie! He can get you the information you need!

Thanks Flat Aggie for making the stop at Westwind Farm!