19th May 2008

Chicken shack

posted in Family, Fun Stuff, OmegaDad, OmegaDotter, OmegaMom |

I said "No" to the horsie idea.

I said "No" to the plan to get goats.

But OmegaDad recently read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life and was charmed by the tale of Kingsolver’s daughter, who became a wheelin’, dealin’ nine-year-old mini-entrepreneur when presented with the idea of raising chickens and selling eggs. 

Now, I will tell you a great secret.

I have wanted chickens for quite a while.

Yes!  Really!

I swoon for Silkies and Sultans.  I wist for Gold-laced Wyandottes.  I pine for Polishes.  I yearn for Yokohamas.

Fifteen years ago, I wouldn’t have known one from the other.  But then I met up with OmegaDad.  And he started hauling me off to county and state fairs.  And I discovered these way kewl fluffy chickens.  All of them owned by darling gap-toothed ten-year-olds who would cuddle them on their laps (when they weren’t cuddling their equally adorable flop-eared bunnies in the bunny barns).  The chickens were soft and fluffy and friendly (lots of handling!), and I wuz sunk.

So when OmegaDad broached the subject of chickens to me, I said…yes.

Behold.  OmegaDotter with two (yes, TWO!) cream-colored silkie chicks:

OmegaDotter putting the Buff Orfington into the makeshift chick coop in the garage:

"Mommy" proprietarily gazing upon her flock:

The Sign:

So.  The Omega Flock consists of two cream-colored Silkies, one buff Orfington, a gold-laced Wyandotte, a Brahma of some sort, and a Comet (?) of some sort.

The plan is that OmegaDotter is to take care of these creatures (with assistance, of course), and when they start laying eggs, she is to gather the eggs.  We will pay her $2 per dozen.  She is welcome to sell any more than one dozen per week to the neighbors for whatever price she can get.

There is also a thought of a gap-toothed six-year-old maybe entering a hen into the state fair.  First, though, we need to make sure they (a) live and (b) lay the eggs.

The dotter was absolutely beside herself with delight.  Last night at bed time, she kept bouncing up and saying "Chickens!  We have chickens!  I’m so happy!"  We will see how long that lasts!

There are currently 14 responses to “Chicken shack”

  1. 1 On May 19th, 2008, kris said:

    we had a rooster when i was a kid and he slept in the house with our dog in the sun sometimes. he thought he was a house rooster i guess. the kindergarten teacher gave him to my brother at the end of the school year (he was hatched there to teach them something i guess!). we eventually gave him to the ‘egg lady’ who used to deliver eggs to our house (this is in the day of the milkman too). how is your dog?

  2. 2 On May 19th, 2008, Trinka Gillis said:

    That book made me want to raise chickens, in addition to the goats that I already wanted to raise. Chickens sound so easy! I look forward to reading about your chicken adventures.

  3. 3 On May 19th, 2008, PAgent said:

    Good Lord. You DO have chickens in your garage.

    I grew up with chickens, and vividly remember being chased by the rooster, as well as helping dad whack their little heads off when it came time to fix Sunday dinner.

    Without any planning at all, the Girl got recruited to help catch chickens one afternoon, and ended up helping break their necks. Again, a valuable life experience, one that she’ll remember much more vividly than picking up a package of shrink-wrapped thighs at the store.

  4. 4 On May 20th, 2008, Erika said:

    How cool! Your Dotter looks so proud - what a great idea. I would like to have chickens, but I am pretty sure hubs would not be so keen on the idea. Looking forward to reading about the chicken adventures.

    Glad your dog is on the mend - blood+poop is a scary thing.

  5. 5 On May 20th, 2008, lisa said:

    Ok-I’ve been ignoring the chicken craze for a couple of months-first in the blogosphere, and then when a group of neighborhood moms decided they were all getting chickens. All I could think of was how my former mil used to scream about cleaning up after the chickens-city girl who married a farmer.
    But, when you put it that way-I can totally see S getting into having chickens-and that would be so fun.
    Of course, living with a ranch boy, I probably can’t sell the idea of city chickens to him… ~lmc

  6. 6 On May 20th, 2008, kate said:

    Aaaaahhhh! You did it! Chickens! Oh, I can’t wait to read all about this… I plan on getting chicks next spring, so I want to know all the trials and tribulations. :-)

  7. 7 On May 20th, 2008, Mrs Figby said:

    Oh man, do I ever miss our chickens. Even more than the ‘pacas. (Sigh.) I’m jealous!

  8. 8 On May 20th, 2008, Johnny said:

    Coolness.

  9. 9 On May 20th, 2008, Donna said:

    Love Dotter’s note. The kindergartners at our school incubated chicks and then took them to a farm, that is until this year when the school system decided that it wasn’t a good idea anymore. It’s one of those milestones that my younger daughter won’t experience. I mourn, but not enough to put a coup in our garage. Looking forward to watching your chickens grow.

  10. 10 On May 20th, 2008, Sister Carrie said:

    What fun! I was just reading an article about raising chickens in the city and it made me want to try it. Now I want to even more. Plus I want to read Kingsolver’s book. What happens to the chickens when you go on vacation, though?

  11. 11 On May 20th, 2008, you know where you are with said:

    LOVE the chickens. I, too, fantasize about having chickens. But we always thought the coyotes would find a way around fencing at the ranch. And, now? Yikes. Urban chickens.

  12. 12 On May 20th, 2008, Elaine said:

    You are living the dream for sure now!

  13. 13 On May 23rd, 2008, Linda said:

    Way to go! We love our chickens and so do our Granddaughters. We’ll follow Maggie’s venture with much interest (and much amusement no doubt:))

  14. 14 On May 26th, 2008, Dina said:

    I love chickens! We had chickens throughout my childhood. I love fresh eggs. I don’t know about the breeds you have there, except the Buff. She should be a good layer. The best are Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, and White Leghorns. I wish I could have chickens, but Paul puts a firm foot down every time I mention it. :-/

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