Sunday, April 3, 2011

Ee I Ee I Oh!

And on this farm we have some chickens. Ee I Ee I Oh!

I've been thinking about getting chickens for a while now. As in at least a year. Our living situation didn't allow for it until we bought this house. It helps that we live in a pretty rural place and livestock are everywhere. Take this sight, for example. We took advantage of a freak warm front by taking the pups on a stroll. This is Inga telling a few horses and a bull what's what.



                       

She's so tough behind a barbed wire fence and thirty feet away. 

There's even a man who drives by our house every morning hauling hay in a flat bed truck. He's accompanied by a big black dog who warns everyone they're coming - in case the diesel engine wasn't warning enough.

Yesterday, there was a man operating a petting zoo outside the local grocery store. The only animals in his zoo were baby goats (Does that still qualify as a zoo? Or does the term zoo imply multiple animals? I don't know.) Farmer Joe quelled Jason's fear that we'd be going home with a gallon of milk and a pigmy by informing us that you can't own a goat within city limits. They're considered livestock. But chickens aren't...

On our way home we passed the local hardware store. Many of you might be picturing a big box store like Home Depot or Lowes. Not here. You couldn't fit Home Depot's employee break room inside this place. But it gets the job done. 

There was a placard outside that read "Get your chicks here!" The bar across the street could make use of that sign, too. 

A few bats of my eyelashes and assurance that we'd "just look" and we were pulling into the parking lot. 

Fifteen minutes later (and armed with some guidance from the ever-helpful staff) we walked out with these sweet chicks. They are two-week old Rhode Island Reds. I named one Ginger and Jason named the other Reznor (As in Trent Reznor, the lead singer of Nine Inch Nails. I'm sure he'd be flattered). 

In about six months they will begin laying big brown eggs - about one a day each. I will finally be at peace about the eggs we eat because I know that they're coming from some well fed and well loved chickens. 


Ginger (left) and Reznor (right)

The pups have been super curious about them. But so far the chicks haven't been mistaken for squeek toys. Here's hoping we arrive at some cross-species harmony.

They are currently residing in a box in my office. We will eventually build them a coop when the weather improves and they outgrow their box.

Love at first chirp


Stay tuned for our next farming adventure - starting an organic garden! 





1 comment:

kristen said...

You're such a hippie, and i love it !! I want a farm someday too, but not for the eggs. I Just want to play with the animals ;)
And goats will not be allowed... because they're evil.