Free Range

Free Range

Up until about nine months ago what I knew about chickens could probably have fit in a pot with a bunch of noodles. I had never been around a live chicken, and knew nothing about them except that they laid eggs. 

Now I don’t know if my daughter’s chickens are pretty typical or not, but their antics sure have brought a lot of joy and laughter to my life. Perhaps, some of this is due to the fact that I’m not responsible for cleaning up their poop off the front and back porch. 

 “The girls”as I like to call them are five strong, and basically are egg laying pets. Brittany actually raised them from baby chicks last Easter, and they began their young lives in a dog kennel with a heat lamp in the garage. They eventually graduated to a Tractor Supply chicken coop, which met an untimely demise during a particularly strong storm last fall. 

Thank God the girls were able to fly the coop to safety, and only one appeared to have maybe hurt her foot. As of today they are all accounted for and seem to be doing well. 

What I absolutely love about these girls is their desire to be a part of the family. Now this is probably not really true, but boy it sure seems so. 

They are free range chickens, which basically means they have the freedom to roam around anywhere on the property they want. What I find particularly comical is anytime we are all in the backyard, they easily make their way through the fence to join us. 

It doesn’t matter what we are doing they have to be in the middle of it. In fact, I’ve even witnessed one of the girls running at brake neck speed just to catch up with Chuck and Will as they made their way across the yard. 

They peck about searching for their next meal, and make their way around the house backyard to front. Along the way they might chase after my poodle Cooper or my daughter’s cat Tuffy. Occasionally they have been known to peck at Brittany or the boys.

This past weekend I brought them a leftover Halloween pumpkin that refused to rot. Along with some unsalted crackers they made a meal of both, and quickly finished up the treat.  

As I looked around the backyard watching the boys swing, I couldn’t help but laugh to see a backyard full of chickens, two dogs and a feisty cat whose has decided that Cooper is the perfect playmate. I wish I could say that Cooper felt the same.

Just across the fence out in the pasture the sounds of sheep and cows can be heard, while two horses munch contentedly on hay. It was a beautiful day yesterday, and I got a real kick out of those extremely curious and brazen chickens, something you just don’t find in the suburbs.