Musings about the hennery

It's interesting to talk to people about my chickens. At first everyone is surprised that I have chickens and live in the city. Then they're curious about getting eggs. Then everyone always asks if you have to have a rooster to get eggs (no) and then feels embarrassed that they didn't know that you didn't. But of course, we're so far removed from our roots as a farming nation that it's not surprising that we don't know these things. Or that chickens aren't really smelly or dirty if you keep their space clean. And that they don't take much time. Really.

As M said at dinner tonight, I'll tell you that it takes me 15-20 minutes a day to take care of the chickens, but it's really more like 5 minutes. The remaining time is the time I spend talking to them and double checking their living space and making sure that all is right with my hennery. I take them a daily treat in the morning - usually some lettuce or other scraps from dinner the night before (I have a little bucket that I collect them in). I say good morning, I double check their water and food and make sure they're ready to go. Then after work I get them a treat of a small handful of cracked corn (organic) as it's getting colder and I feel they can use a few extra calories to burn before bed. Then I say good night.

As the days are getting shorter the girls are usually just getting up about the time I leave for work (7:15 - 7:30) and headed to bed about the the time I'm making dinner. I watch their evening ritual out the kitchen window. Agnes goes to bed first, taking her time making her way up the ladder and then pausing to survey the land before heading in. She's claimed a spot on the roost bar fairly far from the door, just over the top of the nest box. Then the little girls, the usually push and cheep and jump on and off the ladder as they negotiate who goes in first and who goes in last. Then they all pile up in the corner between the nest box and the wall in the straw to spend the night. Mary is always the last in the door way at night and the first in the morning - making sure that all is well and nothing is threatening.

Now that's it's getting colder, I usually go out after dark and put the door M made me over the opening into the roost box to keep out any stray cool breezes. Then I when I go out before work I take the door off and let the girls out. As the door is just fashioned from a leftover piece of vinyl I'm sure that they could let themselves out if they really wanted to.

Not sure where I'm going with this post, mostly rambling as I reflect on how much a part of my life the girls already are even after just a short time. They're the source my anecdotes and a chance to escape the urban life in my thoughts and my time with them. They're a nice way to start the day and an even better way to wrap it up. I can't wait until we start getting eggs from Agnes again and the little girls closer to spring so that everyone else will understand my obsession with downtown chicks.