The Sarver Poultry Palace

If someone would have told me we would be the proud owners of 8 - that's right 8 chickens a few years ago I would have never believed them. Jason and I have talked about how neat it would be to own chickens, but I never thought we would actually go through with it. Jason and I first started talking seriously about it back in November when we visited Jen and Danny in MD and saw how much Teresa loved the chickens. Besides having fresh eggs we thought it would be an awesome experience for the kids.

I had told Jason that I didn't think I could take on any more responsibilities this year so maybe next year, when Lauren was 2, I would be ready to take on adding chickens. Well right after I said that I felt like people started talking chickens all around me. Jason sister Jennifer said out of the blue that they were talking about getting chickens, Gabriel's classroom had chicken eggs in the incubator at school, and Jason's friend Danny told us about their kids business Granova Poultry. I could see the look in Jason's eyes and just knew we were next to "adopt" some chickens. I finally said okay and was thrilled at how excited the kids were when we told them we were getting chickens. I went with Jennifer to pick up the baby chicks and I have to say I feel in love the minute I saw them. It was so neat to see the kids excitement when I brought them home. Even Lauren was enthralled with the newest additions to our family.

Baby chick 2 days old

After the chicks came home, then came talk about coop designs. Jason originally thought he would built something behind the shed with scrap wood and materials. After looking at pictures on the Internet I knew I wanted something a bit bigger and safer. Thank God that I have such a talented and skilled husband - not only did he build the coop I envisioned, but he built the coop that would be later named "The Sarver Poultry Palace".

The "Chicken Run"

Inside the Coop

The nesting boxes - hopefully by Fall these will be filled with eggs.

I have to say so far it has been a great experience. It has been such an awesome thing to see the kids get excited and care for the chickens. We'll see what the future hold for the Poultry Palace, but right now I'll say this addition to the family will be around for a long time to come.