Chickens were never on my radar until that fateful November day in 2017, a week before Thanksgiving. Jordy the cat was seated high on the fence, tail fluffed out and switching, hackles raised high on his back. Our alpha guard-cat Floyd was there as well, equally alert.
This couldn’t be good.
I peered over the fence into the alley and discovered... a chicken!
I went door to door to see if someone had lost it but no one had. Those who had a rooster kept it caged. The wayward chicken spent time around his cage until the day before Thanksgiving when we heard the rooster put up the fight for its life never to be heard from again.
We thought the wayward chicken was gone too until she came out of hiding a week later. She was quite the survivor! She began to get thinner so we put birdseed in the alley for her. Soon she ventured into our yard for daily visits. We officially adopted Rocky Grace the Plymouth Barred Rock in January 2018.
When we saw Rocky following our cats and talking to them, we realised she needed company and added two pullets (teenage hens) to the mix. Rocky squawked up a storm but quickly took Sapphire Gem and Goldie Sunrise under her wing.
Our local neighbourhood children enjoyed spending time with our chickens. It gave them a break from the challenges of their daily lives in our low-income urban area so we decided to build a larger diverse flock to match the diversity of our local kids.
I had zero experience with chickens and was astonished by their variety of shapes, sizes, colours, patterns and personalities plus the differences in their requirements as they age going through puberty, broodiness, and motherhood. Turns out learning to crow and laying eggs are quite a rite of passage!
Upkeep seemed simple enough – daily coop and water changes, feed according to age and season, and just like cats and dogs, poop removal.
Rocky grew into the quintessential alpha. Even the roosters respected her.
She’d give each hen a peck as they made their way up the ramp at bedtime to remind them who's boss, but if anyone was picked on during the day or if a cat looked at them the wrong way, Rocky came to their rescue immediately!
No one messed with Rocky’s flock! One friend joked that Rocky was the Medea of chickens.
I am still surprised at how much I have come to love and connect with our chooks. They all have their own unique personalities and ways of bonding with each other and us. They all know their names and words like treat, time for bed, and NO! Each and every one has a special place in my heart but I’d like to share a few.
Starlynn Fancy Houdini is an Appenzeller Spitzhauben. Her breed originated in the Apenzell region of Switzerland. Spitzhauben refers to the “fancy hats” worn in the area due to the breed’s top knot feathers.
Starlynn’s spots reminded us of stars in the sky and the local kids call her the “Rock Star Chicken”, hence her first name Starlynn. She got her third name, “Houdini” because she escaped to the top of the tree her first night home before we could get her out of her crate and into the coop!
Starlynn is fiercely independent yet one of our most sensitive hens. She is often the first to notice if something is wrong with another flock member.
Elsa Eliana was a Prairie Bluebell Egger. We were elated when she laid her first blue egg! I had no idea the variety of coloured eggs chickens lay, although each hen will lay the same colour of egg for her lifetime.
Elsa was as proud of her first egg as we were and demanded a prize – my sweetheart ring! She would follow me, trying to grab it off my finger. Finally I picked her up, stared her down and scolded her for being aggressive about it. Elsa took note and became very submissive. I promised her I would get her a ring of her own one day.
Just as I discovered leg bands for chickens, aka Elsa’s ring, Elsa was afflicted with Bumblefoot, an aggressive staph infection which required surgery on both feet. She came through like a champ but required nightly Epsom salt soaks. (We bribed her to stay still with blueberries.)
Elsa was a trouper when it came to daily bandaging and medicine. She would literally drink her medicine from a spoon when prompted! Elsa would get her ring as soon as she healed.
Just days after she made significant progress in her healing, Elsa was stricken by Pasteurella bacteria and passed away. Through tears, we placed her ring on her leg as we lay her to rest.
We lost several other chickens to the same bacteria before getting lab work back so we could appropriately treat the rest of the flock. It was absolutely heartbreaking and alerted us to the difficulty of getting veterinary care for chickens... Not only in our region but all over the US. Fortunately, we learned a lot along the way and stopped the outbreak.
We are grateful to still be blessed with our remaining flock. They are simple yet complicated. Much braver, smarter and more loving than given credit. Beautiful in their uniqueness. And absolutely irreplaceable in each one’s personality.
Although I never expected to raise chickens, nor the heartbreak and joy it brings, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
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