A life without a chicken is a fowl one

By Joangely Rodriguez

Everyone has their pets, their cats and dogs, their fish and rabbits but nothing beats chickens. Since I was just two years old, my life has been surrounded by chickens and still do to this very day. We first got them at Tractor Supply up in Highland road after my brother of five years old asked my mom for a parrot. But parrots are expensive, loud, and noisy, so chickens were the resort my mother went to. When we went to purchase them, us being new chicken owners, we thought we could only get three chicks but they required us to at least get six. 

In the end, we got six chickens to start with and three other chicks came into our lives later down the road. It was long and eventful for us since we were new chicken owners and having a bunch of little chickens running around. 

But, those chickens unfortunately passed away and I grew older. When I was 13-14 years old I proposed to my parents that if we got chickens again I would take care of them. I really wanted to get chickens again now that I was older so I could truly enjoy them, and I was determined to fulfill this commitment. So, there it was, three new chicks in my arms. The first two chicks were named Palomita and Karo.

Turns out the third one was a rooster. My mother ended up naming him Boots under the assumption he was going to be a girl. An unexpected surprise for the Rodriguez family. One day he just stepped out into the entrance of the coop and let out a loud crow. Things changed, with us accidentally getting the second most largest species of chicken, the Brahma chicken. It’s been a joy to have them despite it being such a surprise. Raising them from young, they become more domesticated to the point where the hens sometimes follow me around the yard or curiously look up at me with their cute little eyes.

Since we have a rooster, we were also able to get one of the hens to have chicks of her own. After one year of having them I get a chance to relive being a chick mother once again. Everytime we look out our window we can see them out there, since they are still wild somewhat, they can be out there on their own independently and grow to be independent. They are high maintenance, but are held outside and are great grass cutters! 

They may seem strange to have as pets but they can really be a family joy. You can’t hug them so much, you can’t really cuddle with them but they can certainly give you eggs.