A Lesson from the Chicken Lady

I felt it was important to visit the “farm store,” (as we call it) before actually bringing the chicks home. I wanted to check out the place, talk to the chicken experts, and have a feel of what to expect when we did finally decide it was time to bring home our chicks.

When we arrived we could hear chicks peeping the moment we opened the heavy doors. A young, long-haired woman was cleaning the chick cages, located strategically, right near the entrance. Watching her deal with all that smelly chicken poop did give me reason for pause. As we talked, I hoped I could look past the poop, and see chicks for what they really are.

I struck up a conversation with this chicken assistant, hoping to glean all sorts of information. At one point I mentioned something about how happy they would be living with us outside in their chicken coop. She looked at me aghast. “Outside? Chicks have to be housed indoors for at least the first two full months, until they have their feathers. They will freeze to death if you keep them outside.” I knew she was thinking, “What kind of insensitive person is this?”

Silly me. I had assumed that since both the chicken and the egg (it doesn’t matter which came first) come from the outdoors, that they would thrive in their natural habitat. This clearly is not the case. I felt embarrassed that I could be so clueless as to think they would survive any where else but in a warm, secure, indoor environment.

Researching Chickens

What a surprise it was to learn that we weren’t the only ones with the great idea of raising chickens.  I quickly became overwhelmed with the enormous amount of information out there – friends of friends, books, magazines, and the Internet.  We’re not just talking in general terms like Amazon.com or Wickipedia. 

 

There are chicken chat groups (http://backyardchickens.yuku.com) web sites on how to raise chickens, and even information that farmers pass on about how they solve problems related to chickens.

 

Problems you might wonder?  Yes, like how to keep fresh water out for your chickens when the temperature is below zero.  One farmer suggests putting out warm water, another changes the water more often in the winter, trying to get to it before it freezes.  Some people actually use heaters under their water troughs! 

 

Let’s just say there’s a whole new world.

 

Life Lesson:  Who knew there was a whole world of chicken lovers out there?