Within a week of us buying our farm, I was visiting our cabin up north and came to notice that a neighbor who had moved suddenly had left her chickens. I saw them wondering on the road. This was at the end of winter when it was snowing and cold. I went over to inspect and saw there were 6 chickens running all over the place and pecking for food.
I called my friend Erica, and she said I had to take those chickens and gave me some ideas on what I needed to do immediately. Erica was already a few years into her chicken mama status.
I ran to Tractor Supply Company, bought a heat lamp, a flock block for feeding and set about saving these chickens. I put a sign out in case any other interested parties would want to take them that these chickens were spoken for and would be moved ASAP. I called a neighbor friend up there to see if she would mind the girls over the next few days while I asked the man we were buying the farm from if I could come in a bit early and set up the house for them and possibly take them there BEFORE we owned the house. He said YES!!!
Obviously there had not been chickens here in a while but all the elements they needed were there. The hen house at the farm consisted of a room in a pole barn filled literally to the ceiling with clean straw bales, roosting poles, some old heat lamps, feeders and a flat metal thing that I learned was to keep water from freezing so they could always have water to drink. There was a garbage can filled with pine flakes that I knew was bedding, a container of oyster shells which I had no idea what to do with, 4 laying boxes and a chicken run that was connected to the house. The run was in OK shape but would definitely need repairs at some point. Regardless, it was workable!
Over the next few days, Jen came twice a day to feed and water the girls and visit with the, They liked their new heat lamp she reported.
So, how was I going to move these chickens? I figured I could move them in a dog cage but the one I had was small and I had given it to my dad. The universe sometimes listens to prayers and I literally found one left out for trash that was all folded up but seemed whole. I loaded that into my JEEP, got some cardboard from a dumpster and we had an old tarp. Then I headed to the farm and removed about 15 bales of straw and put those under cover. I contacted the electric supplier and got the service turned on in my name. I attached the heat lamps up high for them to roost under, filled waterers, plugged in the little stand that keeps water from freezing, filled the laying boxes with fresh bedding, filled the food bowls and then set off for the cabin. We were all set!
I wasn’t sure how I was going to capture them all. I had handled some of these girls in the past but this was a different story. They were nervous but again the universe was listening and in the span of maybe 30 minutes, I loaded each hen into the cardboard bottom dog cage, threw their flock block of feed in there, shut the gate, covered them with the tarp so they couldn’t see what was going on and set out for the farm 2 ½ hours away. I turned off the radio and listened…. They were silent.
When I got to the farm I hauled out the dog cage and removed the tarp. They started clucking at me. As I gazed at my girls I loved them so much and knew they needed names. Female rock stars it would be.
There was one giant white chicken that was a cross breed. She was a roaster who also laid eggs and ordinarily, if you have a roaster, she is only meant to get to be a few months old and then eaten. This girl had been around a while so I am sure she was tough inside and OUT. I dragged the cage inside the chicken run and opened it. They all ran out and immediately started doing what I now know is a dust bath. They had been in mud and muck before and were so happy to have real dirt to clean themselves off in. They were talking and running about. It was a real celebration!!! They seemed to KNOW, they were going to be ok and had a new home!!!!
After their baths, they explored the whole place, checked out the food, water and made themselves at home. I was just so in awe of the whole experience. I was now a chicken mama!!! I named each one.
Our Big White was named Mama Cass. She was definitely large and in charge of this little girl group.
The twins were Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, the black one was Grace Slick, a blonde one was Cheryl Crow and the last one was Pat Benatar. I vowed to these girls that if they laid me eggs, I would never eat them and just let them live out their days here at OUR FARM. The first eggs I found in their appropriate boxes I literally jumped up and down in celebration. You would have thought I laid those eggs personally!!!
Those first days of new motherhood were heady. We closed on the farm, started to see the incredible amount of work that needed done inside and outside and in all truth I was a little (a LOT) overwhelmed but I was really excited for what we were embarking on together. We would soon move the two beehives from the cabin to here and with cats, dogs, bees and chickens, we really had something.
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