Chickens: How It All Began

Since I was a young girl, I have always collected something. Whether it was rocks, ants, frogs, stuffed animals, etc, the list can go on. When I got married and started keeping house, I needed to decorate. I had some knick knacks and put them around the house. At one point I had an interest in decorating "the country style". Around that time, I was given 2 ceramic chickens; they belonged to my grandmother. They are plain, nothing fancy. I am not a very fancy, girlie girl; I never was. I grew up the youngest with 5 older brothers. Anyway, the chickens are old. I'm not sure just how old when I received them. They sure are beautiful. I've had them for over 20 years and not sure how long my grandmother had them.

They hold a spot on the hutch in the dining room. Every time we moved, I carefully wrapped them for packing. I am very proud to be the owner of these 2 chickens.
At the time of receiving these 2 chickens, I was given another chicken. I can remember this particular chicken displayed on a metal cabinet door. It's a cute little magnet. This, too, was in my grandmother's kitchen for many years. I would go for a visit and always look at it. I thought it was the cutest thing. This little beauty is now resident on my refrigerator.

As the years went on, my collection became bigger and bigger. Between buying chickens and people giving me chickens, I was running out of places to put them. We lived in our previous house for 14 years. So you can imagine all the chickens I had. When we sold the house, unfortunately I had to downsize. One piece I absolutely did not part with is the board I purchased in Ireland. Oh yes, even in a different country, I saw something chicken. This is one of my favorite pieces. Again, it's plain and not fancy. It shows a bit of "old country look". This now hangs proudly on the wall in my kitchen.

Back at the previous house, I always wanted "live chickens". We lived within city limits and the houses were too close for comfort. The neighbor behind us was, well, a bit nosy so we decided that was not the property for chickens. I would tell my husband, we can keep them in the house. Of course I was joking. So, we waited and after the first winter where we live now, we bought our chickens. They are awesome. We started with 4. I decided not to give them names because I didn't want to get attached. Like that wasn't going to happen. So, I named them #'s 1-4. They were pretty nervous on the ride home; probably as much as I was. They were given an awesome home. We took all the precautions. We made sure to dig down a couple feet, put the poultry netting curled up and lay rocks on top. Then we back filled with the dirt.

The girls are fed organic layer feed and organic greens from the garden. Everything was fine until October. We were hit with a freak snow storm. A few days before, #3 didn't seem to be doing so well. It was suggested to treat her for parasites. We took her away from the flock and kept her in a cage in the garage. We kept her warm and did what we thought was correct. Well, a few days later, she expired. It was very upsetting but it all happened quick. Now we have #'s 1, 2 and 4. Their personalities have developed and boy are they spoiled. I love raising chickens. It was well worth the wait. They have an awesome life and we get some really delicious eggs in return.