Baby Steps -v- Getting it Done

OK, evidently I'm taking extremely small baby steps.  Spoke with Joey (guy I met at Tractor Supply) and not only has he already gotten his 20 chicks, they've already feathered and are outside on his friends farm in Iowa.  Do I need to plan out every simple steps.  Well of course I do.  I can't do it any other way.
Good news, Joey is going to let me use the brooding set-up he used for his 20 chickens - that will save me a lot in planning and purchasing.
Hopefully, I will get the coop plan in the mail today - it was mailed Monday.  Plan on taking it to Lowe's, Menard's or Home Depot to see if they can calculate the cost of materials.

Now That's a Chicken Coop

I have been having the biggest heartburn about the chicken coop... nothing really fit my style, so I was already to settle until I found this.

The best darn chicken coop plan I've seen in all my months of research... I've ordered it, so we'll see how it goes, but look at it.  IT'S PRETTY... for a chicken coop.

If you want the plan go to ebay! Type in 'chicken coop plan #4'.

Alot has changed on Ebay since 2010 - The seller is Poorfish1.  he has many plans, just look for the one that fits you best.

You met the darnest people @ Tractor Supply!

Chickens are a little more popular then people think.  There were no pullets left at Tractor Supply on Good Friday.  But why am I not panicking... I met Dawn S, from Ft Calhoun, NE and she raises Americanas (my Easter Eggers).  Sometimes I think it is fate when I meet people, she was there buying an Easter rabbit and was not very interested in the chicks.  Casually looked at the straight run chicks they had... that's all it took.  She lives on a farm; raises ducks, chickens, goats and has a white peacock (I really don't remember all the animals she said she had - couldn't get pass the fact she had chickens).  The thing that struck me the most about her was the fact that she looked happy to live on a farm and didn't look like she lived on a farm.  A modern "country" woman.  Sounds wierd to be that superficial about the way a person looks, but it does amaze me how people visualize country as "Little House on the Prairie" or old grandma's.  We are a decade into the new millenium, country doesn't equal frumpy, tacky or poor and old.  But anyway - another good connection made at TSC!

Because I didn't actually know where Fort Calhoun was located; I looked it up on Google map.  Really not that far from Omaha - just north on Hwy 75.

So after disappointed about not getting the chicks for Easter, I'm revising/ extending my plan one month because in May, Dawn plans on brooding (hatching) a flock of chicks... not really sure what you call a group of baby chicks.  So, now with the extra time I'm going to save more money, double check all of the equipment, make sure the coop is exactly what the chickens need while making it "very pretty" and get all of the 4-H stuff in order.  Meaning I will continue to give updated on the pre-chick stuff for a little while longer.