Earlier this year the price of eggs soared even as they disappeared from supermarket cooler cases. Predictably, silly memes started showing up online. "Get her something expensive for Valentine's Day!" above a picture of a carton of eggs. Others were movie stills showing smug, superior folks looking down their noses labeled "Backyard chicken owners". I will admit that having my own ready source of high quality eggs did mean that that particular shortage wasn't an issue for my family. (Or for my tenants, with whom I share the surplus.) And a lot of people suddenly seemed interested in keeping their own laying hens.
When I started keeping chickens a little over twenty years ago I was mainly interested in getting eggs. It's very true that eggs from your own hens are superior to any you'll ever buy at a store. But then I started learning more about the chickens themselves. And I fell in love.
Looking back now it surprises me that at first I didn't really expect my chickens to have actual personalities. I'd been keeping all sorts of pet birds nearly all my life; from tiny finches to big parrots, I knew that my birds had at least as much personality and were just as emotional as any cat or dog. The first time a full-grown Buff Orpington hen jumped on my lap and snuggled up I was genuinely surprised. I didn't know if it would ever happen again. So I just sat out there in the chicken pen, in my bathrobe and slippers...letting Buttercup doze and mumble for about half an hour. I must have looked a little bonkers. I didn't care. And as it turned out, that hen was a total cuddle bug her entire life.
It's almost impossible to resist holding a baby chick. They're just ridiculously fuzzy and cute. Frequent, gentle handling of chicks also gets them used to human contact. Which comes in very handy once they're grown. It's a lot easier to take care of a creature when it doesn't run away in terror at the sight of you. And at least a few of them grow up actually enjoying being around their humans.
Much like any other animal, keeping chickens can be expensive or inexpensive, depending on what you want, how much you're willing to spend, and how much you're able to build/repair/find/repurpose on your own. We tend to go the latter route. Though I have seen some really nice chicken coops. Possibly bigger and definitely nicer looking than my first apartment was. Our poultry pen is a sort of "earthship" structure my dad built years ago. The walls are thick and reinforced with beams and chicken wire; it's roofed over with chicken wire, which allows sunlight and fresh air in. The chicken house was built by my kids using scrap wood we found on the property.
It's important to feed them well (especially if you want eggs) but it doesn't have to be expensive. My chickens get ordinary poultry scratch along with veggie scraps, leftover cooked pasta and rice, and lettuce or whatever edible weeds are available. They get fresh water daily; in the coldest part of winter I carry hot water out there to de-ice their drinking fountain. My chickens enjoy an occasional treat like plain popcorn, or whatever insects find their way into the pen.
Some people claim that having a rooster present makes the hens lay more eggs. I've never noticed that it really made much difference, but the hens do seem to enjoy having him around. Most of the time anyway. I enjoy hearing him crow in the morning and at dusk, and watching him flirting with the hens, some of which are considerably bigger than him.
The last twenty-odd years or so have seen a great increase in the number of suburban residents keeping small backyard flocks. Many cities have made it fully legal to do so, within certain limits as to how many chickens a person can have in their backyard. Roosters are generally prohibited, probably because of the noise they make. Which can be considerable. There are lots of magazines, books, websites and social media pages entirely devoted to backyard flocks.
Just this morning I was out there giving them their breakfast, and as I bent forward Licorice flew up and landed on my shoulder. I stood up and she stayed put. My parrot won't get on my shoulder, but this hen has decided she will. (No, she didn't poop on me. Thank Goddess.) I love to watch them scratching around, and hearing the different sounds they make. They definitely have different noises depending on how they feel and what they're doing. Soft little cooing sounds to full-throated cackles. Watching them dust bathing or chasing each other around the pen can be so entertaining. The day when one of them (Licorice, again, the adventurous one) accidentally got out as I was going in- then stood outside clucking anxiously waiting to be let back in- reminded me that they are much more than a source of really good eggs. They're sweet, funny, lively members of my family. And I love them.
Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome.