There are many animals we humans connect to – dogs, cats, and other pets that often become important parts of our lives from childhood. Similarly there are those of us that make that connection with poultry. And in my opinion, you are either a chicken person or you are not! And if you meet another person who is a chicken person you naturally form a bond – it’s what I call the chicken bond.
My relationship with chickens started in childhood. I was about eleven when my sister and I purchased some chickens to start a mini egg-selling enterprise. Most of the eggs were sold back to my mother for household use, but when egg production was high, we sold eggs to family friends too. Growing up on a small farm there were always plenty animals; but there was just something quirky about the chickens that I liked.
Moving to Murtagh’s Meadow allowed me for the first time since the 1980s to get my own chickens. We started off with just three, Maud, Bernadette and Meabh. After initially keeping them in a chicken arc, the three roamed freely around our then open garden. They were great company while digging in the garden and were always eager to get the biggest juiciest worm.
They were happy wandering anywhere and in the summer liked the shade by the front door. They soon learned not to come in, though occasionally would give it a try! Bernadette was always the fiesty one, Maud the bravest and Meabh the shyest.
Over the years, and with losses to mink and foxes we went through various types of housing. We finally invested in a poultry electric fence which is great. It allows the chickens free roaming within limits (which has it’s advantages too as they are not digging up your flowers or vegetables). At the same time I do miss having them under my feet. You really get to know the individual characters that way. At the same time since investing in the fence we have not suffered any losses, other than through natural causes.
Once you eat truly free range chicken eggs it is very hard to go back to the bought ones. So if you have the space I would thoroughly recommend our feathered friends.
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I envy you your fresh eggs. Having been taught as a child how to tell how fresh an egg is, it seems to me that even just purchased eggs are less fresh than they used to be years ago. 😦
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I am sure you are right!
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One of my earliest memories is being sent to the coop to gather eggs (with the admonition to handle them VERY carefully). I’ve never kept chickens myself, though I’ve helped my sister and a neighbor with theirs. Predators, both from the air and ground, make them hard to protect.
There is something soothing about their company, however, watching them I call ‘chicken meditation.’ 😉
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Oh, I like that Eliza “chicken meditation”!!! That is it exactly.
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I never had the pleasure, but I did hang out at a neighbor’s who had chickens a long time ago. I found their voices soothing. My dad had some, but got so attached that as they died of old age, he didn’t get any more.
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I like to listen to their soothing chuck, chuck too. They don’t have make a racket when they are disturbed too!! And it’s funny listening to our cockerel compete with the one just down the road at our neighbors!
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Ha! Cock fight from a long distance. Ah, boys 🙂
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How delightful – I can well appreciate how fond you become & the meditating thing seems obvious once you think about it. How interesting that they have such different personalities. Our neighbour is getting some more after a long time without and she’s over the moon.
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Lovely post! My granma kept about 40 chickens at her farm. I was always a bit afraid of going into their nesting area to collect eggs. Mainly, it was the roosters, I was afraid of. One of them was a fierce animal, attacking me always. Later I learned, it was just the colour red he attacked. I had bright red rubber boots.
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Roosters can be very protective of their flock – ours is fairly quiet though:)
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The soap opera of chickens eh?! Love the pics (but love the eggs more!) xx
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Soap opera indeed – we can all recall Marija’s stories I am sure!
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We too had chickens when we were kids and I still love chickens today.
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I think once you get to know chickens there is much to love:)
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I think we’ll for that bond… as soon as I have a patch of earth to call our own. 😉
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It will be worth the wait:-)
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When we bought the house I still live in in 1973, there was a chicken coop in the second lot. I loved the period of time that we raised chickens. It was so fun to do that in the middle of the city. We stopped because we couldn’t keep the racoons from killing the chickens. Another not so pleasant memory was the time I believed I was buying several hens (maybe as many as 7) and later discovered they were all roosters. That was a nightmare. But all in all I loved raising chickens and having fresh eggs every morning.
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Predators can be a problem. I wonder if the electric fence would be racoon proof – I imagine them as pretty determined creatures! Oh dear 7 roosters!! We have two presently and have to keep them separated, and currently looking for home for the younger one.
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What I remember most was seven roosters crowing. I think it was legal to have the chickens but I don’t know if I knew that at the time. It certainly blew any attempt at keeping them secret.
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We have had chickens for almost 10 years and really enjoy their unique personalities. Eggs are definitely a bonus
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How true!
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Great Blog.
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Glad you enjoyed reading it Anthony:)
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I love this. I am new to the chicken-raising, but I now have eight beautiful chickens and they each have their own quirky personality! I wish I would have started forever ago. Love your blog!
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Delighted to hear you are now have your own chickens. Enjoy!
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I’ve been leery of the whole electric fence concept so we invested in some heavy duty cages–made in England– and so far, so good. (We even got a special varmint-deterrent for the tomatoes last year!) Let’s face it, if you’re growing something delicious, there will be a critter coming by to check it out sooner or later. Good luck with your hens!!!
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Thanks Lori. So far it has worked well for us and there are definitely foxes around though we haven’t seen a mink for a while but I am sure they are about too.
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We are in Sydney, Australia, very close to the city and have managed to find space for a few girls (Isa Browns) – we love them!
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Sounds great!
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Chickens are nice creatures. 😉
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They certainly are.
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