All My Little Chickies

About six months ago I was talking after church with a few like-minded friends. We were talking about our gardens, CSAs, etc., and the subject of chickens came up. I'm sure you know how popular backyard chickens have become. Grant and I had talked about getting chickens for probably a year at this point, and I said to my friends on the playground, "Well, we better get chickens now. It's just what people like us do." I was totally poking fun at myself, except that I actually did want to get chickens!

I really didn't want them because it was trendy; I thought they would be a fun addition to the family for lots of reasons. I knew the children would enjoy them, I looked forward to getting fresh eggs from our backyard, and I thought it would be educational for all of us. I read somewhere that backyard chickens bridge the gap between pet and livestock. As a busy mom who is always cleaning up after little people, preparing meals, wiping booties, and chasing kids around, I simply did not want a pet - another mouth to feed, another thing to take care of and clean up after! But chickens...well, I could name them, give them minimal care (no cuddling required) and they would give me EGGS in return. Perfect.

Grant downloaded free plans for a moveable coop, bought the materials, and built it. It cost around $200. Then he told Maggie (without asking me first) that she could pick the paint color. She picked periwinkle. I actually love periwinkle but I'm not sure I would have picked that color for a large structure in our backyard. She painted about 1 square inch before she tired of painting, so I did the rest. Our neighbor gave us a big piece of aluminum for the roof and it has some rust spots on it, giving it a nice shabby chic look.

Next I went to the Davidson County Farmer's Co-op and picked up five chicks. I think they were a few days old. I picked out five Ameracauna chicks. We picked that breed because their eggs are blue, green, and even a dusty pink. Driving home I was honestly more nervous than driving home from the hospital with Maggie. I was totally freaked out to have these five living things protected only by a cardboard box, sitting on the seat next to me. I imagined them being totally freaked out by a new environment and the motion of the car. I was a basket case. I know I have problems; I'll seek therapy as soon as I have some free time. I got them home and set up a little brooder and checked this site obsessively. The chickens really brought out my OCD at first. I was OCD about everyone washing hands after touching them, I was OCD about their temperature being exactly correct. When one of them (Felicity, named by Maggie) started looking a little wimpy, I could hardly sleep. I got up several times a night to check on her. Unfortunately, the next morning, she had gone to the great farm in the sky. Maggie was beside herself. She cried all day. We had a solemn burial for her in the back yard. Strangely, once she died, I felt a little better. It was like I realized my chicken ownership would go on even if one died. We named the rest of them, too. Maggie named Felicity (after her American Girl doll) and Rosie, the only white one. The remaining three brown ones were named Maybelle (after Mother Maybelle Carter, who strangely looks a little birdish to me now), Clementine (my pick for another baby girl, which Grant vetoed), and Fiona (Grant's pick for another baby girl, which I vetoed).

 

That was all back in May, and now in October they're five months old, full-sized, and doing well. Well, Rosie and Maybelle are doing well. Fiona was eaten by a raccoon or some other animal that pulled the chicken wire off and broke into the coop, and we think poor Clementine was eaten by a hawk when we let them run in the backyard and were inside for a little bit. My kids think that chickens just die all the time. On the other hand, Maggie's initial collapse at the news of Felicity's untimely death turned into a resigned acceptance by the time Fiona died. As my sister-in-law Kajsa's dad says, "You can learn everything you need to know about life by raising chickens."

As for the delicious eggs we've been eating, well, about a month ago we found out that our super special, beautifully-colored eggs we've been waiting for won't actually come until they're closer to nine months old, rather than the usual 4-6 months old. So sheesh. That's annoying.
Here they are now, being chased around by Carolina:

As for some commonly asked chicken questions, here we go:
1. Don't you need a rooster? Nope! You only need a rooster if you want chicks. Otherwise the hens lay unfertilized eggs, which is what you buy at the grocery store.
2. Are they legal? Yes, they're now legal in Davidson County, but you have to register them, pay a $25 fee, and roosters are illegal.
3. What about cleaning out their coop? It's not bad. It takes me about 10 minutes and I try to do it once a week. We also move the coop around so they have access to fresh grass and the poop gets rinsed off of the ground when it rains. 

I also found some more camping photos from last weekend, courtesy of Grant.
Here are Finn and Maggie in the tent, after getting into pajamas:

Here I am with Carolina and Maggie inside the tent. Note: I am smiling, therefore this must have been before Carolina kicked me in the head a hundred times.

Beating a hasty retreat, all still dressed in pajamas. Grant cracked up at the sight of us all walking to the bathroom so he had to take a photo.

And here are Grant and Maggie at the Blue Chair Bakery in Sewanee. Ahhh...so warm and cozy.

And I have a few more random tidbits!
If you haven't seen 2011's The Muppets, you need to rent it ASAP. It's fantastic. We've been listening to the soundtrack ad nauseum. It's impossible not to be happy when you're singing "Life's a happy song with someone by your side to sing along."

Here are two short video snippets of Finn and Carolina. The first is Carolina saying a chant she learned from her cousin, Jack. I'll tell you the words she's saying because I know you won't be able to understand everything she's saying. She's saying "Miss Sue, Miss Sue, Miss Sue from Alabama, sitting in her rocker, eating Betty Crocker, watching the clock going tick tock tick tock banana rock. ABCDEFG wash those spots right off of me. Ushe mama Ushe mama Ushe mama, FREEZE!"

Here are Finn and Carolina cheering for our friend's son, Edison, at his football game. They cheered like crazy. It was adorable.