Chickens (1)

I have had this sitting on the back burner for months and months.  And now, sitting at the computer, on the weekend, watching it rain, I am ready.

We have chickens.  That is to say that Sarah, myself, and our landlords Ken and Celise have chickens.   We got them almost a year ago, back in April 2010.

I believe I remember it being Sarah that first mentioned the desire to begin our journey  into chickendom but Celise was immediately on board.  Ken had reservations; thinking back on it I think he thought that we were just going through a phase, as if we were like children asking for a pony or a giant dog.  We would get the things and then about 6 months in would say something to the effect of, "Ok, we're bored, you take care of them now".  Heck, I've done things like that to my parents in the past, I wouldn't have put it past me if I were him.

Eventually though, successful arguments were made and the project was begun.

This was to be the site for the main run and the hen house.  It's just on the other side of the fence separating our small back yard from our landlords much larger back yard.  Originally Sarah and I were committed to putting the whole mess in our yard, but Celise was so excited about the prospect of having chickens that she and Ken agreed to put the bulk of the living space in their yard.  All of us came to the agreement that there would be a pathway for the chickens to get through the fence and into our yard, a portion of which we would block off for the chicken's use.  

The arrangement was to be that Ken and Celise would provide the living quarters (supplies and space, etc.) while Sarah and I would provide upkeep (feed, bedding, and cleaning).  We would both share in the spoils (eggs!).  This more or less has been the case.  We all ended up sharing in the cleaning however.  Chickens are prolific poopers and diggers and it's a lot of work trying to keep everything in ship shape on your own. 

While the hen house was coming together, Sarah and I went to find chickens.  It's not hard to find just any chicken, pet stores will usually have something.  But finding a particular breed of chicken can be a challenge.  Sarah wanted a New England Red and two Plymouth Barred Rocks.  This isn't what we got.  Instead we got a New England Red and two Black Sex Links (we think).  Still cute though...