On Chickens, and Gardening

The Feathers: Vivian, Dorothy, Kate. Urban chickens are awesome.

I have been wanting chickens for quite a while. One thing or another has always held me back from getting them, though. Over the summer, a friend of mine decided she needed to have some time with far less to tend, so she rehomed all of her urban farm animals. The pigs went to her brother's farm, I took some chickens, and a friend of mine took the rest.

Living in a region of the country that can be miserable hot in the summer and bitter cold in the winter, you need to have a chicken tolerant to those extremes. Naked Neck chickens, sometimes called turkens. They are not, as their name would imply, part turkey. I was a little stunned at first, because I had imagined having chickens that were....cuter. But these grew on me, they have the best personalities. Even though the have a lot fewer feathers than other breeds, they deal well with the cold. I am uncomfortable leaving them outside when it's bitter. We had a daytime temperature that was in the 60s, but it dropped to 13F overnight. I put the chickens in a dog crate in the basement, I was so worried. Experienced chicken people laughed and laughed and laughed at me for that. Because apparently THEY ARE FINE in the cold.

They aren't difficult to take care of. When I get up in the morning, I go clean up their house, and let them have some free range time in the back yard. Even though we don't have a fence all the way around the yard, they don't leave the yard at all. I change their water daily, fill their feeder, and throw in fresh bedding as needed. When they are laying, I get 2 or 3 eggs a day, which is enough for us since not everyone in the house likes eggs. I didn't buy any eggs all summer.

They are docile. They now let me pick them up and hold them, even if they don't enjoy it much. They do come see me for snacks they will eat out of my hand. Their favorite? Shredded cheddar cheese. Dorothy? she will hop up and down for it. They also like to eat tomatoes from the garden, so next year chicken wire will be needed for all but one I will plant just for them. They will chase me around the yard, clucking like mad, if I have cheese or tomatoes. Their personalities are ridiculously adorable.

They get their free range time multiple times throughout the day. And when we say "Time to go home!" those chickens go right in. In the beginning it was not so easy. I had to herd them every time, and endure a play by play from a neighbor. "She's going right, they're too fast for her, they're splitting up to give her a hard time. OH JESUS LOOK AT EM GO"

Their care is simple. Their antics are delightful. I am no longer buying store-bought eggs because those eggs come from chickens that are not even treated like living creatures. Chicken poop is a great fertilizer, they eat bugs I don't want around, and again, those eggs are beautiful.

Between the chicken and the garden, we have a real connection to where our food comes from. All the planning, tilling, planting, care, and harvest, and they understand what goes into the majority of food we eat. It's a little easier to get them to try new things if it's something they grew themselves.

Next year, I hope, will be the best yet. I'm already poring over my seed catalogs, planning for herbs on the balcony, sun chokes along the driveway, squashes along the fences, container gardens along the sidewalk....I have BIG plans.