Farewell 2012

2012, all in all, was a year of learning experiences for me.  And while not all lessons in life are easy or enjoyable, they shape who we are and how we will take on the future.  Chinese tradition called it the year of the Dragon, but for me it was the year of the Chicken. Our first steps into this new found hobby (albeit obsession at times) has brought much into my life.

Raising day old chicks this spring with my family showed me how to appreciate the joy in new experiences.  Watching the little fluffy creatures grow and change, so rapidly, was something that my daughter and I were in awe of.  From their first bites of a new food to their first time out in grass all the way to their first attempts at roosting, watching their reactions brought us laughter and a chance to bond.

As our girls matured I was able to teach my daughter a bit more about life cycles as we looked for signs that our girls were ready to lay eggs. Carefully, quietly, kindly we interacted with them more and more, always vigilant for changes in their behavior or appearance.  One glorious afternoon we were treated to another chance to bond; discovering our hens first egg together!  We were both so overjoyed and shared a moment that will remain forever a treasured memory.

A day before Thanksgiving we noticed one of our hens acting distressed. She was displaying signs of being eggbound.  Watching our sweet Ursula so uncomfortable, hunched up, labored breathing, we were very concerned.  No matter the holiday, we set up a dog kennel inside our home for her and she stayed inside with us for five days.  She was carefully monitored (by all family members, human and animal) and received what treatments we could do to help.  Epson salt soaks, gentle massages, warm moist heat...nothing helped.  

This would be her first egg, but it seemed as if she wasn't quite ready to lay it.  A few days after the holiday she perked back up and acted good as new.  False alarm on being eggbound!  She went back out and hasn't had any problems since. I suspect she just wanted an invitation to holiday dinner, but changed her mind once she saw the turkey wasn't the "honored guest" she thought!  We all realized though just how attached we had become to the girls.

I never thought I'd be a "chicken keeper" in my lifetime, but I am now.  I love it and I'm very glad and grateful for what this has brought into my life.  They have caused me to slow down and appreciate the simple things a little more.  It also introduced me to a wonderful group of Farm Chicks who have enriched my life more than they know.

The last two months of this year have been particularly difficult for me. Medical issues in my family have arisen and shaken us deeply.  Another lesson I have learned this year is that I should no longer take a single day for granted.  Do what makes you happy.  Help others.  Be a good friend.  You may not have another choice to try a new experience again.

2012 was the year of the Chicken for me.  2013 will be the year of Family.  Whatever you may choose to dedicate yourself to this year, I wish you much luck and a very happy 2013.

Getting Started (kick starting this blog!)

I've neglected writing this blog, as I hoped I would do along the way.  Better late than never comes my new start to this, so here we go...

Where exactly do I start with "Getting Started?"  It's hard for me to know exactly.  Maybe I should tell you about the coop we planned on rebuilding?  Perhaps I should tell you about the chicks I ordered and picked up late this spring.  Instead, I will start with my impression of chickens prior to my research bonanza these last few months.

Chickens were a subject that had been brought up by my husband, Mike, more than a few times.  He had been raised on a little farm, brought up to be self sufficient and knew how to both work with and reap the benefits of livestock.  Besides cattle and goats, he had been raised around a variety of different chickens - though he says he would be hard pressed to tell you what kinds they were.  Instead he remembers their names and personalities with a smile.  Pizza, his brothers favorite chicken, who could (and often would) find a place up high to fly and perch.  It was nothing to look up in tree tops or on the peak of the barn roof and find Pizza up there.  I think my husband's favorite was a little chicken with the crossbeak.  She made herself quite memorable with her comical nature and unique look.  He can rattle off at least a dozen names of the little feathered friends that graced his childhood and says that he liked them all.

My experiences were much less warm and fuzzy.  The only chickens I knew came in 4 different ways: the silkie chickens at the horse barn who were more like little fuzzy cats who squawked and protested when touched.  Then there were the chickens allowed to free range, who often wandered out into the country roads I travel.  A honk of the horn would send them skittering back onto their property for safety and left me driving on with my heart in my throat.  Never forgotten is the chicken I knew indirectly; the one that attacked my sister.  Yes, while she was house sitting, she went out to do the requested feeding duties asked of her only to be thanked by a decent sized Leghorn rooster slicing and dicing her back.  The fourth kind of chicken I knew, and was most familiar with, came on my dinner plate.

After repeated requests by my husband, my then 7 year old daughter decided to jump on the bandwagon.  She had just started her second year as a 4-H Cloverbud and we were reviewing the potential projects she could do next year.  Without any hesitation, she said she wanted a chicken.  Outnumbered and slighty discouraged, I began my research.  We decided that we should all have some experience under our belts before she would take a bird to show at fair next summer, so our best bet was to get some chicks this spring and get used to handling them, caring for them and (gulp) bonding with them.

Several books, multiple magazines, websites galore and a friendly facebook group (hello FED!!!) or two later, I feel a bit more educated and comfortable with the idea of chickens in our backyard.  I read up on the different breeds and made a list of those said to be friendly and easily handled.  From that list, each of us selected 3 breeds each of pullets (female chicks)  that I would order from Meyer Hatchery, a nearby hatchery, in early June.  The lineup is as follows:

      Meredith's Picks 

      (my daughter)

• Silver Laced Wyandotte
• Red Speckled Sussex
• Wellsummer

       Mike's Picks 

      (my husband)

• Rhode Island Red
• Partridge Rock
• Barred Rock

      My Picks

• Orpington
• Ameraucana/Easter Egger
• Australorp

It seems like a decent group.  At maturity, we'll have a nice range of colors and personalities - not to mention a nice group of egg layers.  No, we will not be using any of the girls for meat purposes.  I just don't think I'm at that point.  Maybe in another year we will be able to get a few for meat, but I could already see how that would play out with Meredith and I.  Mike would have two hysterical females sitting in the dirt, sobbing, while rocking armfuls of chickens.  Our first batch of chick's put to the knife?  Forget about it!  They are keepers!

Now for the coop we planned on refurbishing...yep, it's not really pretty.  That was my very first impression.  So I was relieved when my husband came in after a few hours of work outside and decided that the refurbished coop plan was no more.  Instead, he agreed to a collaboration of our ideas - of course, he scaled mine down a considerable amount.  He said the chickens couldn't have a bigger house than we do.  Sheesh!  My husband is about the handiest guy you could ever meet and I have zero doubts in my mind that he'll make the plans we agreed upon come to life.  Granted, it won't be the white washed, gable roofed dream I'd envision...but it will serve quite nicely for start.  I planned on keeping a photo journal of the progress made but it turns out that was a bit more tricky than I'd expected.  It's hard to work and hold a camera!

The coop is finished and I couldn't be more pleased with it...unless of course it came on a bigger plot of land and doubled in size.  The little fuzzies that we picked up on June 4 are all growing up now into varying shades of the birds I'd read they would become.   That is another post for another time.  I've got a few more weeks of chicken ownership under my belt now and I'm a bit more at ease.  I still have a lot more to learn and questions arise with each new behavior or antic I witness.  It is just so very fortunate that I have found some good, knowledgeable friends that are willing to share their advice and adventures with a newbie like me.