Admit it. The idea has entered your mind. Feathered friends with personality who deliver breakfast. What’s not to like? The mere number of everyday sayings inspired by chickens is a testimony to their popularity and significance.
Pecking order
One hen will peck another if she is in her way. However, chickens are more transparent than humans sometimes. Expert Hannah Buser of Midtown notes, "If a chicken is upset, she will ruffle her feathers to let everyone know. There are no hidden motives.”
Amanda Goetze and her family host a happy flock in their charming Memphis backyard. She agrees chickens are undeniably like people. "It’s like a playground. When they go up to roost, they all do it at the same time. If someone’s in someone else’s spot, they might hit them in the head really hard!”
Broody
A hen that is inclined to sit on her eggs to hatch them is described as such. Furthermore, it is important that your hens don't have to brood over their need for shelter. When preparing, this is the first step.
Colin Rye and Owen Smith, horticulturists for the Memphis Botanic Garden's (MBG) Urban Home Garden, advise, “Free range is too risky, and at night they really do need to go into a secure place.” MBG’s newly renovated coop houses approximately 20 hens and two roosters. It is a fortress with layered walls of wood and wire that extend six inches underground.
Readymade coops are an option, but building one was a rewarding pandemic project for the Goetze family. Amanda’s husband Nick, their son Harrison and daughter Madeline designed and installed their coop.
Colin asserts that MBG chickens are "the most pampered chickens in Tennessee.” A chicken tractor routinely transports them to recess in a grassy area, and inside the coop, the flock is entertained with elaborate climbing branches and roosting nooks.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Most people get into raising chickens for the eggs, and, Colin adds, “I would rather eat eggs from happy chickens like these than from industrial agriculture. The higher quality life produces a higher quality egg.”
Everyone points to the superiority of freely available eggs; however, the eggs are far from free when you acknowledge the investment. And your hens may go on strike. During winter months, Amanda puts heating pads in the henhouse, but she says that when conditions are unfavorable, chickens may temporarily quit laying eggs.
Rule the roost.
It is bedtime, and your chickens need to feel safe from predators. From scuffles with possums to uninvited hawks, each of our experts has a similar story. Due diligence is imperative.
Sometimes troublemakers are on the inside. MBG’s coop has a couple of time-out enclosures for occasional separation. Colin and Owen say a little time in the pokey truly works!
Flock mentality
Chickens need friends. Buy at least three hens to begin. Roosters are not allowed in city limits and you do not need one to get the eggs. City regulations also call for a certain amount of land per chicken. (Residential rules do not apply to the MBG because it is an agricultural institution.)
There are many ways to acquire chickens. Day-old chicks can be purchased and overnighted to the post office but starting with pullets, i.e. teenagers, will be less demanding.
Scratching the surface
In high school, Hannah enjoyed watching her chickens go about their daily lives, digging and scratching for food without a care in the world. She even recorded a few of her observations in writing: “Whereas their biggest worries are whether they will be able to catch that bug or not, we humans are chasing something much less tangible. We want to be satisfied; therefore we chase wealth and material goods. So then how is it that, at the end of the day, the chickens can be satisfied with their bug, while we, in our grander pursuits, are not? Perhaps the chickens are doing something right.”
Shake a tail feather.
Check your city ordinances, construct a shelter, and you will quickly be on your way to gardien de poules status, eggs-cellent eggs and a daily side of entertainment. For more information, Colin recommends The Small-Scale Poultry Flock by Harvey Ussery.
“The higher quality life produces a higher quality egg.” - Colin Rye, horticulturist, Memphis Botanic Garden's Urban Home Garden
