Where Did All The Chickens Go?
Posted by Ben Stevens on
We have never really shared much about the story of what happened to all our chickens. This is that story.
When we moved to the country here at Ever After Acres we were convinced by the kids that we should get chickens. We agreed making it crystal clear the work involved was on the kids and that we would help, but ultimately it was their responsibility. It grew a few chickens here and a few chickens there and before we knew we had over 50 chickens in our backyard.
Initially, we let them roam free with a coop to sleep in at night but quickly realized that was a horrible plan. Summertime became like living in a minefield, trying to go anywhere meant paying close attention to all the chicken crap littering our yard. Aside from that annoyance we lost several chickens to predators. One chicken was attacked by a hawk when one of our good friends was house sitting for us. She called us in P.E.I. and said there is an injured chicken and didn't know what to do. We ended up having to kill the chicken and decided we need coops with fencing to protect them.
We ended up with four different coops that we used as well as several structures I cannot bring myself to call coops. One of which was built on my 40th birthday, obviously not the best of ways to spend a birthday but as a dad you do what you gotta do. Our two oldest even tore apart our old wood shed to refashion into a giant chicken coop.
To make a long story short, the kids got tired of all the challenges that came with having chickens and the upkeep stopped happening as it should. I ended up super sick with food poisoning from not thoroughly cleaning one of our eggs for my breakfast and that was the last straw. We decided the best thing for our family was to get rid of all the chickens.
While if given the chance to do it over again I probably would choose no chickens, I will say we have many fond memories of moments we had with those chickens. From our favourite rooster Chester who would go to sleep in your arms to the baby chicks we watched hatch and grow. And truth is even some of the most awful parts of having chickens ended up being some of our favourite memories. Next week I'll tell you all about the zombie chicken, don't miss it as it is a great story.