Crazy Chicken Woman
"You have to clean that chicken poop from the Barbie House"...
"He just climbed up on my shoulder and snuggled in my hair"...
"They are free-ranging in the girls' playroom"
Just a few phrases I never thought I'd be saying.
So, let's just get it all out there....
Stay at home mom with "blog"-check
Wear yoga pants daily-check
Minivan-check
Chickens-check
I'm not at all afraid to admit that I'm a complete cliche.
Okay, with that out of the way....
Yes, we got chickens. Moving out to the country, farm animals were always a part of the plan. Looking online; however, I got a little anxious. According to Pinterest and urban hippies united (that's not an actual thing) you need a PHD in astrophysics to raise a baby chick into adulthood. In a moment of weakness due to the sad passing of our beloved German Shepherd, we loaded up, went into town (there I said it) and bought a dozen chickens just a bit sooner than we intended. We put them in a cardboard box, where they stayed about two or three days; a light, some cedar chips, and feed, and boom-we are chicken farmers.
Despite my lack of PHD, despite having an appropriate place for them to live, two days laters, when the brooder that my husband built (see above) was complete, the dozen we started with were still a solid dozen. They all survived our wreck less, irresponsible behavior. Three weeks later, they are big, spoiled, and happy.
If you have the space and desire to have some chickens-I really encourage you to go for it. So many people have come to me saying, "oh I would love to do that". Okay-do it. Obviously, you need to know if it is legal to keep chickens in your yard. (In AR it probably is) Also, I know there is a lot out there about buying responsibly bred/raised chickens. I don't disagree with that idea, but we all just have to do the best we can with what is available to us. Don't let people talk you out of it, because "it is too hard". Google searching can drive you crazy. So far, chickens are way easier than our dogs or cats. We get them clean water once per day, feed them, and have to redo their cedar chips every now and then.
Don't let people tell you it has to be expensive. The total cost of the chickens, food, feeder, water dish, cedar chips, and building supplies came to about $230. We will have to build a chicken yard with more coop space, so that will add another $100-$150 or so. But, the above brooder could easily convert to a coop for 4-5 chickens; perfect for a small backyard chicken farmer. We will eventually let ours free range during the day, then pin them up at night. Starting in July, if we get 40 eggs per week, we will sell a few dozen per month, eat the rest, and pretty much break even.
We handle our chicks daily, in hopes that they will be sweet and friendly. The three year old was extremely excited...for about a week, then they got a little too big and a little less cute. The one year old isn't sure what to think. She giggles until she cries, then the cries turn into sobs, but she isn't sure if she is crying out of fear or out of wanting to hold something she can't really hold. Taylor helps with chicken chores, even if only in a "supportive role". She gets really excited to tell people about them, and likes to have friends over to see them. It definitely gives our friends a reason to come "ALLLL the way out here", which makes being here a lot more pleasant.
So bottom line, we will just have to continue to get cute baby farm animals, to entice our friends to come visit. Stay tuned....you never know what may be next!
