Avril’s Finest started with a trip to the local feed store. We were there for dog food and nothing whatsoever to do with chickens. My daughter who was home sick, asked to tag along. A quick trip by myself turned into a family trip with my wife and daughter in tow.

What dog food?

The peeping from the chicks could be heard from the front of the store. We walked around the metal stock tanks and melted at the sight of baby chicks. We went home with six chicks that day plus a stock tank and accessories.

Cooped up.

That summer brought pressure to finish the coop. I had been building it with my son based on plans we purchased online. The chicks were quickly outgrowing their makeshift housing. They seemed anxious to plant their feet on the ground. The more I learned, the more I fell in love with owning chickens.

Is this it? Really?

Disappointed with the feed choices found locally I started researching making my own. The more I researched, the more I wanted more control over what they ate. That led to making my own feed. It turns out there was no end to the articles and videos on the subject. Also, a lot of people who felt just like me.

A curious thing happened- I found that I really enjoyed the process of making food for them. It didn’t take long to see a difference in the health of our chickens. And once the eggs came…oh boy! There was no comparison to the store bought eggs we were used to. Sturdy shells, rich golden yolks, and a taste better than any egg I had ever had.

It has taken three years and a lot of research and development. Now I want nothing more than to share my work with other like minded people. Those folks who love their chickens as much as I do. So they too can see the same changes in their birds that we saw in ours.

Our First Coop