One of my husband’s responses to Covid was a sudden interest in chickens. The possible lack of groceries was just too much for this family. We are known to be big-eaters. Thankfully, our metabolism is high as well or we would be in big trouble! We have had chickens before. We raised the chicks under a heat lamp, repurposed an old rabbit hutch for them, and let them free range. However, one Sunday afternoon we arrived home to a yard full of feathers, and chickens were strewn all over the yard. Our only guess is a neighbor dog had fun chasing and catching our poor chickens around the yard while we were gone.
However, this time my hubby was not interested in waiting the 3 to 6 months for the chicks to grow up to lay eggs. Covid grocery threat…we needed to be self-sustained and quick! So we found a lady who sold leghorn chickens just old enough and ready to lay eggs! With my five kids in tow and a dog kennel in the back of my suburban, we set out on the two-hour drive across Michigan to pick up these egg-layers! We arrived at the ranch and loaded up the dozen white chickens into the kennel, laid a pretty white sheet over them, and drove off. Little did we know, that at every turn and stop, the chickens would slide, fly around the kennel, and also poop. This was a disaster. A suburban is big, but not big enough to keep the smell away and stop the feathers from flying everywhere! My 12-year-old daughter broke out in tears…sitting on the backbench closest to the hens. So we rolled down the windows and tried to ignore what was happening in the back. In the dog kennel. The kennel meant for dogs. NOT traveling chickens.
When we finally arrived home, we tried to unload the chicken chickens…so true to their name. Adam got this one spot on when he named them. They are SO chicken. One by one we caught them and put them inside their new home… a lovely chicken coop and 10-foot fenced-in area. Phew! All 12 were out of the suburban. Now to clean it up… when I hear my daughter yell, “Mom! There’s a chicken on top of the fence!” And sure enough on the very top of the fence sat a chicken. She proudly looked around and then proceeded to fly out into the yard. Freedom. And one by one each chicken followed and flew to the top of the fence and flew out of their chicken run. Now chickens can free-range, but not with a black lab licking his chops about 25 feet away. Our dog was going nuts. She was about to run thru her electric fence and get a buzz just to taste a chicken in her mouth. My daughter was crying, again, and yelling because now a chicken had flown back INTO the suburban and was sitting in the driver’s seat. Thankfully, my younger son came to the rescue with a large fishing net to capture all of the chickens that were all over the yard. And this was the day that we found out that chickens can fly.