Visiting
Previously-Adopted Chickens!
by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education
Program Director
If you’ve been following our hen blog
for a while, you may recall that the Learning Farm held a chicken adoption
event last November, and was able to adopt out many of the hens from that flock
when they were about 2 years old. One
very friendly woman who adopted two of our hens that day, Nan, invited me to
come to her house anytime to visit them.
I didn’t try to visit over the winter, but now that spring weather has
finally arrived in northern Illinois (sort of), I recently contacted her to
arrange a visit.
Even though it’s still early spring,
with little green showing or growing as of yet – it was obvious to me that Nan
is quite the gardener. I can’t wait to
return later in the spring or summer and see her yard in all its growing
glory. Nan has a rather large yard, and
a rather large backyard chicken flock – currently nine gorgeous hens of a
variety of breeds.
The two she adopted
from us were new breeds for her – a Black Australorp (which she named Asti) and
a Barred Plymouth Rock (which she named Oreo).
Both integrated into her existing flock with little fanfare!
Nan's backyard chicken coop was built by her own hands! She started with a free coop design that she found on the Purina website (you can check out the original design at Purina Henhouse and Hutch Design), but made many modifications to suit her needs. It serves its purpose well!
Nan told me that her neighbors often contribute vegetable scraps for her chickens – and she, in turn, shares the bounty of eggs from her hens with them. She also explained that the neighborhood kids come often to her backyard to visit and play with the chickens – and she welcomes their visits. What a rare learning opportunity for them!
Nan told me that her neighbors often contribute vegetable scraps for her chickens – and she, in turn, shares the bounty of eggs from her hens with them. She also explained that the neighborhood kids come often to her backyard to visit and play with the chickens – and she welcomes their visits. What a rare learning opportunity for them!
It was wonderful to watch her flock of
nine happy hens, roaming the yard, scratching and dust bathing in her garden
beds. These birds are clearly well-loved
and well-tended. It was a joy to see it
– and to “talk chickens” with such a like-minded soul!
Many thanks to you, Nan!
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