We’ve had our chickens about 8 weeks now I think, give or take a few in either direction. They are charming, always amusing and great for kids. I never expected them to be so gentle or so entertaining and when they start laying the eggs will be a huge bonus for us.
We are allowed 5 chickens for our lot size (anyone is allowed at least 3 and then depending on your lot size you can have extra.) The boys each picked out 2 chickens but I was unsure if the coop would be big enough since we converted an old dog house into the coop. We left the Feed store with only 4 and as I drove away something in the back of my mind said “you should have gotten extra just in case…” But we were already on the freeway speeding homewards with a box of noisy chicks and two small boys bent on opening the box in the car.
Friday night friends were over and of course the conversation turned to chickens. I said smugly “No sign of rooster yet!” In Seattle you can have chickens but not roosters for obvious reasons. The very next morning we opened the coop and McNugget, the Rhode Island Red stuck her head out. She has always been the most aggressive and first to try everything.
She looked at me, opened her beak and let out a scratchy cock-a-doodle-doo! My own Chicken Little looked at me, crestfallen, threw his head in his hands and started to sob. He realized immediately what that meant. McNugget is turning into a young rooster and has to go.
We should have realized from the aggressive behaviour, the larger tail feathers and more pronounced comb. Now it’s obvious and every morning since then we’ve been greeted with crowing to bring on the day. I’m currently pursuing my options – a class on poultry processing if I can swing it quickly enough or donating him to someone else who processes chickens on a regular basis. In any event McNugget will end up in the stew pot somewhere.
Chicken Little is coming to terms with a valuable lesson in homesteading – pets have a purpose. The hens lay eggs and the roosters get eaten (especially since you can’t have a rooster in the city limits.)
He’s accepted that we’ll be eating one of his beloved chickens. He’s doing a great job caring for the chickens, letting them out in the morning and putting them in at night. He spends hours hanging out with them and finding them bugs. Having the chickens, growing our food, and preparing everything from scratch are providing him with an amazing foundation in life – emotionally as he learns to be responsible for plants and animals in all their cyclical glory, socially as he learns to respect giving back and protecting soil and the environment, and physically as he eats a pure diet free from all soy, GM corn or canola, food additives and preservatives and excessively salty or sweet things.
He might have been happier inside watching Power Rangers all day and eating boxed cereal, crackers and cookies but this is a much healthier childhood for him – days spent outside discovering bugs, watching chickens, tending to the garden. The cereal and crackers and Power Rangers will be there waiting. But right now the rooster is crowing…
3 responses so far ↓
1 kitsapFG // Jul 4, 2009 at 1:03 am
You are doing such a good thing for your son. Just the fact that he is engaging with other living things and having to cope with the ups and downs that come with that – is truly a gift of “living”.
2 Leslie // Jul 17, 2009 at 10:59 am
AMEN for a healthy childhood!
I love reading your posts, and feeling like I am getting to know you, because your personality shines thru.
3 admin // Jul 18, 2009 at 1:35 am
Thanks guys – We have since re-homed McNugget and I need to post a picture of him. His new digs are great and he’s got plenty of ladies to herd. We’ve since replaced him with 2 new chickens – one of which I have a funny feeling just may be another rooster! But we’re already preparing for it now.
My nearly 6 year old just got back from a camp overnighter and had to go hang out with the chickens in case them missed him. They definitely bring out his more nurturing side for some reason!
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