My May Distraction

Bill and I talked during our long winter about what we could do to be “green”. Not the color green, but to be conscientious about the environment. I have recycled for many years, but we could do more. So we talked about putting in a garden… about raising bees… about composting bins… about rainwater barrels… and about raising chickens for eggs. After consulting some websites and buying a “how-to” book, I decided to buy chicks and get ready for a new distraction.

This seemed easy. We have always had pets and I tend to be the “nurturer” of the house. However, this was going to be an experiment. We do not live on a farm. We have a generous acre in the suburbs. These were going to be “suburban chicks”. How many should we start with? After talking to some other teachers at Bill’s school, one recommended getting 8-12 chicks because they might not all live. We went to the local feed store and came home with 10 downy chicks—2 each of 5 different varieties. I giggled, because if the little signs were right, I should have white, brown and green eggs one day.

The Rodgers chicks started out in a long, rectangular aquarium with a heat lamp, cedar shavings and their food & water dishes. They were so cute! Especially when they fell asleep at night.

After a few weeks, they started to fill in with feathers. They were getting more active. So I came up with the concept of a “chick recess”. For their first outdoor chick recess, I put them in an empty tractor tire rim—5 at a time—in the front yard. This was their first time experiencing grass, dandelions, little twigs, etc. They were so curious.

They were getting bigger, growing more feathers, and kind of getting on each other’s chick nerves. I was giving them more chick recesses, but they were outgrowing their container. So Bill spent a whole weekend building a solution to our problem: the custom-made Chick Condo. It has two levels, little windows, 3 future nesting boxes, some perches and storage for food containers. I could open up doors and latches on 3 sides for access to future eggs and cleaning.