The Blog: September 2016

When you're in college, people love to ask you, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I've always hated that question because in my experience so far, life is quite unpredictable. For example, I never would have imagined that in 2016 I'd be in Utah building a chicken coop, but here I am.

Ok, so this post isn't really about the fallacy of plans and unpredictability of life... it's about the chickens.

I don't really remember when we decided to get chickens. There wasn't ever "the conversation" when we hashed out all the pros and cons of having 15 fluffy birds running around the community center yard. I do remember one day surreptitiously placing a chicken coop in the amazon cart and Justin getting so excited at the prospect that he got a little teary-eyed (give him a break, chickens were a part of his childhood). But whatever the process, the day came when the post office called to say that a rather noisy parcel had arrived for us. It also so happens that Sarah, one of the post office ladies, hates chickens. Whoops.

This seems like a good place to insert my "Justin with the chickens" series.

Day one: love.

Hanging out at work together

Sometimes, they just need some quality time.

He put feed all around him to lure them in.

It's a love-hate relationship.

All the ladies.

We had ordered 15 chicks thinking that a couple of them would probably die on the journey. But lo and behold, the chicken people had outsmarted us and sent extra chicks with the same assumption. Our little two-day-old birds seemed to be especially hardy, and we went home with 18. A couple of days later we did lose Paprika, may she rest in peace. I just need to throw this in here... chicks are so. cute. If you're wondering, you can get chicks of a specific sex because most breeds can be sexed quite early (and no, you don't need a rooster for the hens to lay eggs). However Justin, in his chicken enthusiasm, decided to get a few of a cute little bantam breed that were too tiny to be sexed. And we now have four roosters. 4 out of 6. Those are unlucky odds.

The little balls of fluff.

My office productivity took a bit of a dip with their arrival.

Our chicken plan was so not thought out that the day they arrived we were like... well, I guess we need to figure out a home now. You can buy chicken coop kits online, but Justin had the oh-so-admirable idea of building the whole thing ourselves from scratch. I think in his confident mind he imagined finishing it in a couple of days. Well, many weeks later... We've finally finished the chicken coop. What did they do in the meantime, you might wonder? They spent their first few weeks exclusively in a repurposed cooler. As they grew, we made a little temporary pen outside the front door where they spent their days. Of course, the day came when those little chicken wire walls could not contain them, and they just ran around inside the fence that surrounds the community center. It is by no means secure, and they can easily escape, but chickens (thankfully) are quite the homebodies. We've only had a few complaints from the neighbors and daily complaints from our food pantry attendant, Kay, a sassy woman who takes her fly swatter to them whenever she gets the chance. This whole time, they've spent their nights in that cooler inside. Which means, yes, every night someone had to wrangle the chickens into the cooler, top it with chicken wire, and get it in the door. You may be beginning to understand my joy at having this chicken coop finished. I do, however, appreciate the chicken catching skills I've gained.

When they eventually lay eggs, which usually happens between 4-6 months old, they'll go to the kids' snack and cooking classes and excess to the food pantry. The kids love the chickens so far, and I'm excited at the prospect of them learning about the food system, animal care, and general responsibility. What you feed chickens actually translates (often visibly) to the nutritional quality of the egg, so our half free-range chickens are also a bonus.

I would say they've quite stolen the hearts of everyone who works at the community center (even Kay, though she would never admit it). We even have a little list of their milestones so far hanging on our wall, beginning with the first chicken poo date, and ending with the first crow of one of the roosters (which, as you may imagine, sounded exactly like a chicken going through puberty. Justin and I thought one of them was dying).

I never expected to become invested in chickens, of all things. Honestly, I thought they were kind of ugly and smelled pretty bad and were only a plus because of the laying eggs thing. But I have so enjoyed watching them grow from little puff balls to elegant ladies and gents. Kind of like children, they do the funniest things. I am not ashamed to admit that chunks of my day are spent just sitting in the sidewalk watching them peck and scratch and try to steal things from each other (seriously, if you want some real entertainment find a flock of chickens and throw something desirable into the middle of them). I love it when their curiosity brings them over to climb and perch on me, or when they eat out of my hand, or most of all, when they nestle in and chill for a bit. And I think they're quite soft and sleek and beautiful.

This was definitely one of my favorite moments. The chicken basically sat in my hand and leaned over until it was supported by my hand.

Life is full of surprises. A year ago I had just finished a Master's degree, and now I'm saying that if you like the idea of having fresh eggs all the time, or if you'd just like an unconventional outdoor pet, I can give you some tips on chicken care.