The barn has always been my happy place. The smell of hay, the sound of silence, the escape from the pressures of society, & of course my best friends live there, horses. I still enjoyed taking care of my horses & spending time with them but I was also constantly reminded of my limitations. No riding, no jumping, no competing, no shooting guns on horseback & playing cowgirl. This made me pretty depressed. I had no idea what non-horse people did with all of their time. I’m certainly not the type that will be happy & fulfilled by spending my time indoors.
I still loved my barn time but felt like something was missing. One day my husband surprised me by bringing home a small chirping box from the feed store. Inside were 6 little fluffy-butt baby chicks! I was in shock because I’m ALWAYS the one bringing home animals & my husband is the voice of reason (‘what exactly are you going to do with 2 feral donkeys?’ Ok, he had a point).
I let the chicks loose in our bathtub & hung a light over them to keep them warm. My husband quickly remembered why he should have surprised me with flowers instead. I started googling ‘baby chick care’ & was soon flooded by too much information & too many opinions. Oh no, chicken people are just as crazy as horse people!! I was stunned yet relieved, I will fit in just fine in the poultry enthusiast world.
Of course neither my husband nor I had any idea that chickens were like a gateway drug into the livestock world. I soon wanted more chickens. Who knew they came in so many colors & patterns?
They were actually pretty entertaining too. I don’t know about you but watching a chicken leap out of your lap & snag a wasp out of the air is pretty impressive. Bonus: I’m allergic to wasps! Did that chicken save my life? Probably not but it was still pretty amazing to witness.
Of course my flock grew very quickly thanks to the feed store. Every Spring the livestock feed stores & hardware stores get in hundreds of adorable baby chicks. They cleverly place them between the entrance & the feed section so you are overwhelmed by cuteness when you just need a bag of feed. But you can’t buy just one! Most stores have a minimum purchase of 6 chicks so they can keep each other warm, or keep each other company, or just increase the store’s revenue. Either way your flock will grow by leaps & cheeps in no time.
The chickens that you already have are determined to increase their numbers as well. I collect eggs every day & try to discourage broody hens (those are the hens that try to hatch eggs). Every once in awhile they will succeed in hiding a nest then parade around with another 8 or so baby chicks about 21 days later. Is it adorable? Yes. Does it increase your feed bill? Absolutely.
Of course if you have a small coop & keep your chickens locked in that coop at all times you won’t be dealing with hidden nests (or a daily Easter egg hunt). We free-range our chickens during the day & only lock them up at night so they lay eggs all over the place (except in the variety of nesting boxes I made).
My flock started outgrowing our acreage so I rehomed a few chickens to some good friends. Don’t worry, we still have enough chickens to make the neighbors give us weird looks.