I have decided to keep chickens. There are more chickens in the world than any other bird, so my goal in this certainly falls on the self-sufficiency side of my fence as opposed to the preservation side. It is an exciting idea to me, that of livestock and their precipitant fresh food. From the hen’s bottom to my table, nary a more direct route could there be.
It is not an unusual endeavor, this. Urban chicken raising is nothing new and, may actually be on the rise. As my journal description states, my living locale is more rural than urban, but Mrs. Farmer MacDonald I’m not and keeping live fowl is, to me, a foreign notion.
To make things a little more off-kilter, I’ve not opted for the traditional American barn birds my first go round. Stephen, my friend and guide along this chicken journey, owing to the fact that he once kept them himself, was most familiar with silkies. Many of you may know silkies as ‘the ones with feathers on their feet.’ These birds are white and, due to their black skin, are usually not used for their meat, at least not in the cultures of the West.
My initial understanding was that they were a friendlier breed, thus a smart choice for my initial endeavor. As chicks, fuzzy, soft-spoken, this was certainly true. They were skittish and confused, but gentle and easily calmed. However, as they have grown into what is probably their fifth week of life, I’ve found them to be adopting more and more of an adolescent’s mien. They are squawky, feisty. They are no longer easily soothed. Their small messes have turned to big ones as their scratching and pecking becomes more powerful and deliberate. Come, come, girls. Is it really necessary to scratch all of the hay out of the cage? ALL of it??
Their fuzz is turning to feathers by the day, a phenomenon I’m beholding with awe. With chickens, I believe a skilled observer can tell a baby male from a female. Novice that I am, and silkies that they are, we basically have to wait until an egg comes out, or not, to know whether we have on our hands a fresh-egg-making machine or whether we have the potential noise-hazard that is a rooster. A few months yet.
The journey continues.
