30
|
ESCARPMENTMAGAZINE
.
CA
SPRING
2015
Thechickensquicklybecamecomfortable in
theyard, going fromone spot toanother ina
wanderingpack throughout theday, then re-
turning to thecoopbynightfall to settle in for
thenight.All I had todowas lock thedoor
behind them. I always took inventory tomake
sureeveryonemade it home safely.
Sadly, oneevening twoBlackSexlinksdidn’t
return. Itwas just thebeginningofwhatwould
turnout tobe“raccoon-ageddon”. Some-
where in the forest therewasa raccoonwho
haddevelopeda taste for chicken. If Iwasn’t
homebynightfall to lockup thecoop, I risked
servingupa freemeal to themaskedbandit.
Peopleoften leaveeventsearlybecause they
have to“let thedogout”. Inmycase, I had to
“lock thechickensup”.
BySeptembera lot of timeandeffort had
been invested into the flock,with little to show
for it—fivemonths—noeggs. Iwasgettinga
littledisheartened, andbegan second-guess-
ingmyattempt at farming.Mychickensmust
have sensedmydiscouragement, for just
when I thought Iwas reachingmybreaking
point, likemagiconemorning, two fresh, little
depositsappeared. Bymy reaction, you
wouldhave thought I’d foundagoldenegg.
Itwas just thebeginningof the“payoff” that
madeall theworkworth it.
At first itwasa trickle. Itwasn’t longhowever,
until the floodgatesopenedandwewere
drowning ina riverof eggs.Dependingon
thebreedahappy, healthyhenwill layan
egg roughlyevery25hours. Soonour fridge
was full anddespitecountless, different
recipes, onecanonlyeat somanyeggs ina
day.Our surpluswas sharedamongst family
and friends.Oftenwhenvisitingwewould
bringoneor twodozeneggs, sometimes in
lieuof abottleofwine,whichhelpedcurtail
someof the jokeswhenwehad to leaveearly
to lockup thecoop.
ByearlyDecemberwehadanunruly rooster
whowasexercisinghisdominanceover his
brother. Roostershavea lot of bloodvessels
in their combs,which themselvesare rather
delicate. It doesn’t takemuch towoundand
with theirwhiteplumage it looked likewe
had twoblood soakedgladiatorsbattling for
thehonorof their hens. Fearingwewouldbe
brought uponchargesof cockfighting,we
had todispatchoneof our champions.
Pluckingandcleaningachicken is time
consumingas is theprocessof eggcollecting.
Oncecollected, theyhave tobewashedand
rinsed.Combinedwith feeding,wateringand
cleaning, a lot of time, effort andmoneygoes
into raisingchickens. If ourmotivationhad
been to savemoney—itwasn’tworking.
Itwas fun tohave thechickens roaming
around theyard, but before long they
becameabit of anuisance.Gardenshad to
be fencedoff toescape thewrathof the
wanderinghordeandourpatio furniture
soon resembled thewhite, nitrogenouswaste
encrusted rocksyou findon shoals in
GeorgianBay.Wedecided to fence ina
portionof the forest next to thecoop. This
provideda shadypasture for thebirdsand
more security. Thedownsidehowever,was
that it tookaway someof thecharmof having
free rangebirdsaround theproperty.
Afterour secondwinterwith the flock the
noveltyhadwornoff.With thechickens
isolatedbehind their fence, caring for them
becamemoreof achore thanahobby. Itwas
decided thatwewouldkeep themuntil the
fall, atwhich timewewouldprocess thebirds
ourselvesandput them in the freezer.
Asautumn rolledaround, sodid theheads. It
waswithaheavyheart thatweharvestedour
flock. It’sa tough thing tocare foracreature
only tokill it.Did thebirds feel some senseof
betrayal? I suredid.
There is something tobe said for raisingyour
own food.Anew found satisfaction, gratitude
andabetter understanding for thecircleof
life,whichwehavedisconnectedourselves
from in today’s industrialized food system.
Willwedochickensagain?Well,we still
have theouthousecoopand the start upcosts
havealreadybeen takencareof.Allwe
wouldhave todoat thispoint ispickour
breeds…any suggestions?
|E|
MAKEOVERFEATURE
|
FROM OUTHOUSE TO HENHOUSE
