Cleaning & Chickens

Cleaning out the chicken coop, cleaning out the house, cleaning out our life.

Part of the change we are making, is downsizing in order to become portable. Today, we sold some hens from our flock of 25.

In the beginning of Kevin’s farming projects, we got chickens. I promised, “You can get chicken’s as long as you don’t ask me to help clean or take care of them.” Soon enough, I was visiting them with a daily greeting like, “hello ladies!” Shortly thereafter, if I noticed they were low on water, I’d fill their water. Not because he asked me to. The chicken project soon became a family affair. My brother and mother both help with the feeding and watering duties, and we’ve been known to get caught just hanging out and chatting down by the coop, while the birds free-range the yard. When company comes over, it’s likely that they’ll end up getting a tour of the yard and visiting the chickens as well.

This past Mother’s day, we sat on the grass in the sun with the chickens, and one of our White Brahma’s sat in my lap for a while and laid an egg in my lap. Perhaps it was a gift from above, a foreshadowing of our future to be.

This spring, we’ve been regularly collecting a dozen eggs a day. We have a beautiful variety of birds, giving us an assortment of different colored eggs: From off white to chocolate brown, pale green to sage green. We collect the eggs, wipe off the eggs, display the eggs, sell the eggs, and give the eggs away. The chicken’s have been a gift of nourishment to our bodies and our lives.

The step towards selling our hens will free us in order to travel. I know we’ll settle back down, but for now, we’re being pushed forward to simplicity, learning, and adventure. It was bittersweet but right to find new homes for the girls.

Our St. Bernard, Skyler, on the other hand, won’t let us out of her sight.

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