CHICKENS ARE MY LIFE (1/3)

**As I wrote this, I realized that it was getting longer and longer. I decided to treat myself and make it into 3 parts so that I get bonus extra posts done for the next week. Part 2 and Part 3 are here, also check out Chick Season**


Let's just say if cats are my spirit animal, chickens are my spirit pets. I ADORE chickens. Like I love the background peeps in my house and the egg song in my yard. I love opening up my backdoor and seeing a flock waiting for me. I love the way they smell- like musky maple syrup and hay. I love seeing them run towards me, happy to see me hoping there are treats in my hands. I love when i sit down and they come to visit, climbing on me and checking if my freckles are bugs. I get excited when I find beautiful eggs in their coop colors I never knew existed as eggs as a kid. I love how many breeds there are- each one unique and amazing in their own way.

I love everything about chickens. They are actually really smart creatures; able to recognize many faces, learn tricks, and even learn words and hand signals. My birds were even smart enough to train me! They would knock on the door with their beak, I'd let them in, they'd hop up into their nesting box (read cat bed with a towel on it), lay an egg, and then hop down and make a bunch of noise so we'd let them out. They did this every day!  It was so great.

But let's back up. Who picks chickens as a favorite pet? How did this happen?

Let's go to the beginning. I am terribly allergic to animals. Cats, dogs, horses, bunnies, you name it. My allergies get pretty severe depending on the breed, species, and how clean they are. For example, horses will kill me. My lungs will swell and my face itches and my nose runs and I can't breathe. All my medications, my inhalers, and a shower wont help. I'm stuck until my body realizes that there are no more horses. Dogs, depend on the breed, Short hair dogs make me break out in hives, and long haired dogs will if they are dirty. Cats.... cats are bad if they are short haired, not bathed, and sharp clawed. My long hair cats don't trigger me as bad because they have less  Fel d 1 genes than their shorter haired cousins. I also bathe/de-shed regularly and nail trim. As I am exposed to my cats, I have also noticed that my body is building up a tolerance to the allergens (which is amazing) so I use less and less medication when interacting with my kids.

But enough about my cats, we're here for chickens! I am OBSESSED with animals, and always have been since I was a child. As a pre-teen I got to visit my mom's friend who had chickens. They were so much fun to be around. And the best part was that they didn't trigger my allergies. AT ALL!! From that day on I was hooked. I would look up breeds, planned a dream flock, and waited until I could have a flock of my own. Finally when we moved to Utah, my grandpa gifted us with 12 beautiful chicks. I was in heaven. I named them all, cared for them, and took them on adventures through the yard. I remember fondly burying one chicken as she dirt bathed; a little turtle shell of dirt towering on her back, laughing as she snuggled into her new dirt home. I remember my favorite hen, Chocolat, who was a sweet as can be and loved to follow me around. I would go out there and lay on a blanket, and all of them would sit on my side and nap with me.

As I grew up and moved away, they weren't taken care of as well as they should have and slowly my precious flock disappeared to predators and accidents. I was heart broken. I swore to never let my pets die to negligent hands again. I waited patiently for the time when I could have a flock of my own.

Finally it happened! We moved to a home with a large yard and the landlord approved chickens! I was so excited! I researched and planned for months and slowly started to buy the necessary items for my first flock.

My first coop!

Finally, 3 months later, it was time! April 14, 2016 rolls around, I get to the store early, and hand selected my new children. 1 Australorp, 2 Easter Eggers, and 1 Silver-lace Wyandotte. They would soon be known as Batsy, Thor, Snickers, and Rocket. I was in love. These were the perfect little kids and bird mom could have ever asked for!

Batsy

Rocket

Snickers

Thor

We all took a nap!

We took trips to the lake, the grocery store, shaved ice, ice cream, and walks around the block!  It was so much fun having adventures as a family!

Quail Lake

Quail Lake

Snacking at Quail Lake

Stroller for activities

And a perfect place for naps

Mamma and Thor on a date

My kid doesn't cry in the store 

We went to get ice cream at Wendy's

As they grew up, we went on less outings and hung out at home. This is when they started to lay eggs and patrol the yard for bugs. We'd go out and feed them treats, and call them back into our yard when they'd cross the road to the neighbor's house. They came to the Final Fantasy Victory Song at a high pitch. No, I will not record it for you. 

Batsy and Rocket laying eggs in the house

Thor and Snickers fight over laying an egg 

Soon enough it was their first birthday, and we know how to celebrate birthdays around here!

with bugs! and cat food!

Blow out the candle!

They were 1! Happy birthday to my sweetest flock ever! Batsy is my leader girl, she's smart, strong-willed, and a kind to both chickens and people. Thor is also so smart, she loves attention and she always lays the prettiest eggs! Snickers is my goofball. She is always trying to lay eggs indoors in the weirdest places, beds, blankets, cat cubes, she is gentle and sweet. Rocket is dumb as shit and acts like I'm the scariest person in the world. She'd rather stand in the doorway than make a decision. We only love her cause she's pretty. Shallow of us, but she started it. We were excited for what 2017 had to bring our happy family.

March 30th, 2017 More chickens! I was ready to add to my dream flock! I brought home 3 more precious babies. 1 Silkie, 1 Delaware, and 1 Polish. Welcome to the family, Silk Spectre, Spider-Gwen, and Storm.

Spider-Gwen (she climbed over everything!)

Silk Spectre aka Speck

Storm

Tengu became a babysitter (Gwen is running

around in the background)

They were so fun! I was excited for a Silkie because their feathers are so fine, you can dye them!

Cotton Candy Chicken

Then tragedy strikes, August 14th, 2017. While I was at work, An animal came into my yard, and stole Rocket away. There was nothing left but feathers. I was heart broken. How could something have gotten in? They were mostly fenced in, and it was daytime! My poor, dumb baby. It took me a while to heal from that experience. I ended up adding more fencing, and now the chickens couldn't leave in the front at all. 

The young chicks, had grown into full grown chickens by this time and were all one solid happy flock. I was so happy there was no hen pecking and everyone was getting along just swell! At this time, we were given a Cochin Rooster, named Justin Pants, because he looked like he was wearing little pants. He was very skittish, but was very kind to his ladies, lavishing the younger ones with food he found, and keeping everyone alert to hawks in the area.

Justin Pants, the little rooster

Find out next week what happens when a good thing stays good for too long and all hell breaks loose.