For The Love of Poultry

Two years ago, if you had told me that I would one day own chickens, I would've laughed hysterically. Sure, I live in Indiana, but I grew up in Indianapolis and always considered myself somewhat of a "city girl." Yet here I am, the delighted owner of eight gorgeous chickens. How did this happen?

I blame my husband, of course. Leo grew up in Montevideo, Uruguay, and while Montevideo is a metropolis, Leo's family living just outside the city had chickens and  rabbits. Leo knew the joys of watching chickens and eating fresh eggs from an early age. As an adult, Leo never had chickens of his own, but lived in Spain and Tenerife (in the Canary Islands) where owning chickens is not a rare occurrence. 

So when Leo moved to America and discovered my predilection for urban homesteading, and when he started reading my urban homesteading books, he discovered that owning chickens is not only possible, even in an urban setting in America, but it's a part of urban homesteading and it's becoming the cool new thing to do. And so the dialogue began.

I can't lie - it took a lot of arguing, persuading, and convincing before I was ready to let Leo turn our shed into a chicken coop. We talked and talked about it, and even visited the coops at Traders Point Creamery, a local organic dairy farm where we enjoy year-round farmer's markets. We argued over numbers. First I agreed to four chickens. Then it was six. And finally, we settled on eight. And eventually, we embarked upon our search for the perfect tiny flock.

By far the most useful tool I found in my search was the Breed Selector Tool available at MyPetChicken.com. I was able to input our climate, the temperament we wanted, and the kind and number of eggs we were looking for, and out popped the ideal breeds for us - Rhode Island Reds and Australorps. We ordered for of each and in no time, our postwoman came to our front door with a sturdy, cheeping box.

There is nothing more precious than a day-old baby chick. They are fragile and timid, but quickly become used to being held, so they will fall fast asleep in your hands (this is also true of the adults). Or better, they get sleepy standing up, wobble around a bit, and then gently tip over on their beaks. From the beginning, they're a joy to watch, so much so that one can easily spend an hour or two watching them without realizing just how much time has passed.

One of the things that worried me from the start was that Leo mentioned that when their egg production slowed (as it does after a year or so), he would consider eating them. I happen to be an ovo-lacto-pescetarian (which pretty much means I eat eggs, some dairy, and fish, but no other animal products), and while I'm not evangelistic about it, I didn't really want Leo eating our chickens, especially if I became attached, so we agreed not to name them until he promised not to eat them. Once he made that promise, I was off and running with the names: Ruby, Bubbles, Dot, and Connie (all Rhode Island Reds), and Connie, Esme, Cat, and Lily (the Australorps).

They grow up far too quickly, though, and before you know it, they're outside and laying eggs....or at least, most of them are. We noticed that Lily was a bit of a loner and wasn't quite as active as the others. She was so different, in fact, that I worried that there was something wrong with her. And then she started to grow a little ridge on her head, and the older she got, the bigger it got, until we realized...we had a rooster on our hands. Lily became Lyle and these days, he's the head honcho in the coop.

Our chickens spend the night in a coop, a shed Leo converted by building a roost and nesting boxes, and enjoy the day in a large, enclosed run. We would love to let them roam around as free range, but in our neck of the woods there are way too many threats - hawks, cats, dogs, and foxes just to start.

It only takes about six months before they lay their first egg and within a couple more months, they're laying regularly. Our breeds lay about five eggs a week each, so we have around 35 eggs a week. We give a lot away to our neighbors (for putting up with Lyle's crowing) and to our family and friends. The eggs themselves are exceptional - the color and flavor are much more vibrant and rich than their supermarket counterparts. We use them for breakfast and Leo makes a wonderful Spanish omelet for dinner (if we're lucky, recipe forthcoming!)

But it's more than just the eggs. Chickens are absolutely lovely to have around. They make the most delightful sounds, and it's easy to relax in the afternoon just watching them peck around. In the autumn, we rake up a bunch of leaves and scatter them in the run so the chickens can scuff around finding bugs. We bring them sliced apples, cantaloupe rinds, and spinach as treats and feed them by hand. Bonnie and Ruby love hopping up and sitting on my lap, and Bubbles will stay so long she snuggles in and falls asleep.

We keep a little table and two chairs near the coop, and when we need a little afternoon break or just some stress relief, we head outside for a little "Chicken TV." Quite simply, it's the best show we can find.

And now we're considering adding to our flock. The most appropriate ratio is twelve hens to every rooster, and  we only have seven hens, and they're looking a little...well, henpecked, for lack of a better word (though technically, I guess it's really "rooster-pecked"). We're thinking of adding some Silkies (the lap dog of the poultry world) and a couple of Easter Eggers (they lay those pretty blue and green eggs you might have seen on Martha Stewart's show) to round out the flock and balance things out a bit. Stay tuned!