Chicks and Hope, Anyway

       I lifted one of the chicks and plopped it down into the brown hands of the little boy.

       He gasped. "Oh!" Took in a breath. Stilled. Said again, "Oh."

       This ten-year-old had been following me around for half an hour, filled with questions that he barely heard the answers to, curious but cautious, and roving non-stop.

       I was showing him our new baby chicks.

       During this spring and summer, while COVID-19 ravaged the world, our flock went from eighteen chickens to six. Coyotes or foxes had taken a daily toll. This is the price we pay for letting the chickens range freely around our yard and grounds: they become prey to the local food chain.

       Our six chickens were only laying two or three eggs a day, barely enough for us, much less our Airbnb guests. Our reliable, standard food resource was threatened, adding to my fears of  apocalyptic disaster.

       Finally, my partner ordered six chickens from a mail order catalogue. They arrived in a cardboard box with wire-covered holes and small plastic cups inside for food and water – watched over by the post office employees! The next week, we learned that a local farm store had day-old chicks, so Partner went shopping and returned with twelve very tiny, fluffy, cute chicken babies.

       One of these chicks is what I handed to the little boy.

       "Put your hand under its feet so it doesn't fall," I told him. "And cup your thumbs around it to help it feel safe."

       His head was tilted down so his black cap hid his dark eyes. He held completely still, staring at the tiny, fluffy, peeping life in his hands. That moment stretched out as we stood, toe to toe, silently studying a baby chick.

       Having chicks again reminds me that life continues. That despite the invisible pandemic monster outside the door, we can bring healthy little babies inside our hearts.

       Fluffy, peeping chicks and awe-struck little boys remind me to hope.

 

Why We Have Chickens

If you've ever stopped by my web page (hollyy.com) you'll notice that chickens play a role in my life: a troublesome role, but beloved.

So why do I put up these flower-destroyers? Why have chickens at our house, at all?

Having chickens is not the norm – at least not in the year 2019.

Having chickens used to be very common. Historically, almost every household had a few chickens.

chickens in our front yard

 Why?

For the same reason we have chickens: because chickens lay eggs.

As long as we have a small flock of healthy chickens, we get eggs every day.

Having eggs in the refrigerator makes us feel like we always have a little food. No matter what happens in the world, we won't go hungry. We may get REALLY tired of eggs, but we won't go hungry.

a sample collection of eggs

Always having food, even if it's lowly eggs, makes us feel healthy, rich, and free from hunger.

Eggs are one reason  we have chickens.

chickens eating cottage cheese

Another reason is that chickens eat our table scraps. They are omnivorous – meaning they'll eat anything, -- and they're scavengers – meaning they'll eat anything dead on the road.

Landfills are filled with food that people throw out. We don't send any food at all to landfills. We toss all our leftovers, even from restaurants, into our yard for the chickens.

Another reason  we have chickens, is that they eat bugs and weeds. Controlling weeds around our house helps prevent fire. And eating bugs, well, we're glad to have fewer bugs in our lives – that's all.

Our chickens are like pets to us. We feed them, talk to them, care for them. We don't butcher them (although we should if we were very good to the planet). We let them "free range", meaning they can walk around all over the place, pooping everywhere – which is good for grass, but kinda gross.

Anything I've missed? Do you have chickens? What are the reasons you have chickens? Would you like to begin a flock of your own? (I have some that eat flowers, that you could get very cheap from me.)