Very, very long time readers will remember that once upon a time, I had chickens. They were mentioned a lot, I even wrote down the history of their colony, admittedly, I did exaggerate slightly.
Reading over that again, I really have no idea why I wrote that, but what’s done is done. Chickens are pretty funny though. It’s easy to watch their little chicken drama and invent tales about why they do the things they do.
A while after that story all of my chickens were killed. I had built what I thought was the Fort Knox of chicken coops, with a big run around it, but a fox dug under the fencing and killed all my chickens – Every single one.
I was done with chickens at that point. I had loved all my little chickens, and it was devastating to lose all of them.
About a month ago, I went to my friends house. She is also an equestrian, and she has chickens. It was fun seeing them again, and as a bonus, my kids seemed really into them, too. They kept asking to go to her house and see the chickens. Everyday, the kids asked to go see the chickens. So when she told me she was giving away her beautiful silkie rooster, I was tempted to take it. Then she said she’d throw in a hen as part of the deal, so I took it. Two free chickens? That’s a deal too good to pass up.
We’ve had them a few weeks now, and they have been a smashing success. They live in the big 50 chicken coop by themselves, but the space is good, because I keep them in there a lot. I love free range chicken but I don’t want to lose anymore chickens.
The kids love them. Which is why I’m writing this warning to other parents, before you get chickens for your kids. Know this, before you venture into the world of chickens.
You Will Spend All Your Time Outside
The chickens are outside, therefore, the kids want to be outside. Settle in parents – pack a bag lunch and set up camp outside, because that’s where you’re going to be spending your whole day.
The kids ask me to play with the chickens starting from the moment they wake up. But since I am very protective of these chickens, they are not let out of the coop unless a parent is present. Which means if I let them out early in the day, I’ll have to be out there with them all day. Yes, this has happened. The kids are in heaven. I am too – for a bit. But after about the 2nd hour, I’m wondering if I can bring my office outside to get some work done.
It should also be pointed out that kids seem to be immune to weather. I guess we are born completely weatherproof and it wears off as we grow up, because I am not immune to the weather. I feel the cold and the wind very distinctly. But those kids… they love the rain, and seem completely indifferent to cold. I’m completely bundled up, and they are shedding all their layers down to their t-shirt. Have scientists done a study on this? Why do we lose this ability when we grow up?
They Gain Confidence and Morph into Something New
Technically, we already lived on a farm. We have the horses, and a few acres. But I hesitate to call us a farm, it’s more like a extended suburban lot. A ruburb, if you will.
Pre-chickens, my kids were very much suburb style kids. We went outside mainly to play on the swings, or we’d go to the big community playground. They didn’t like getting dirty. They rarely came out to help with the horses.
When the chickens first arrived, the kids were timid. I was the one catching the chickens and handing them to the kids to hold. The kids were a little afraid of reaching out. They would scream and run if the chickens moved towards them.
A few weeks in, and now I have farm kids, who lunge into the dirt to catch chickens. They are covered with dirt and scratches from fetching chickens out of the bushes. They are crawling on their bellies under the coop. They don’t need me anymore, they are very capable of catching chickens all on their own. My three year old caught both chickens at the same time.
I give the chickens a break by taking the kids down feed the horses. We do it everyday, since I assume the chickens need a break from the kids. They can now feed them grain and hay, and refill the water troughs. They can also also climb the round bales, and rake up piles of hay to jump in. They make mud soup in my spare water trough, and drop horse equipment into its murky depths.
They are evolving. Their capability is frightening. The children are too advanced. Who knows what they will be able to do in another week.
Your Children May Love the Chickens More
I love chickens. They are way more intelligent than people give them credit for. They are also so funny to watch, and their chicken drama is inspirational – as in, I can make up stories about why things happened the way they did. Again, see the story of Rupert.
Well, the kids love them too. In fact, they might love them more than me. They are asking to go see them, and it’s because they want to just hold them and love them. Look at my son’s face and try to tell me he doesn’t love that rooster more than love itself.
His love for the rooster was so incredibly cute that I’ve been taking a photo of him almost every day with the rooster. I’m not sure if the rooster loves him back, it kind of looks like he’s just given up and accepted that this is his life.
My daughter loves the hen. She’s tiny, and cute, and fluffy, and the chicken every little girl would dream about (if that was a common dream of little girls.) She loves to just sit and holds her.
These are super active, rambunctious kids. But when they hold the chickens, they just go into a trance, happily holding and cuddling them. It’s ridiculously sweet.
The kids might love the chickens more than me, but I get it. I’m not tiny and fluffy and cute, so naturally the children want that. These chickens in particular are especially fluffy, so basically living stuffed animals. It makes sense.
This may have been tongue in cheek, but seriously, get your kids the chickens. Chickens are so cute, parents and kids alike love them. Do it!
Chicken Breeds for Children
For the non-chicken people, you might be wondering why our chickens look the way they do. They don’t look like the stereotypical white chicken. You are right, they are not. They are called Silkies, and I’m going to give you the brief rundown on them.
Silkies are a breed that originated in China, and they are known for their fluffy feathers and small size. They are a bantam breed, which means they are basically miniature chickens, anywhere from half to a fourth of the size of standard chickens. They also don’t lay well, and the eggs they do lay are small. They aren’t good meat birds, as they barely have any, and what they have is black, which is only a visual, but it can be offputting when you’re used to normal color chicken. They are basically considered ornamental chickens, good for being pet and admired.
They are usually known to be sweet, kind and friendly, which is why they are perfect for children. It could be argued that the personality of the chicken depends more on the individual chicken than the whole breed, but as a whole, they are generally pretty nice. It is also possible for an entire breed to be super friendly, as I had a few bantam cochins, and they were the happiest, friendliest balls of fluff I’ve ever had. Hopefully I’ll get some more of those.
Any chicken can be a wonderful pet, but if you’re looking for a specific breed, I highly recommend either a silkie or a cochin.
Happy chickening out! (do you get it, it’s like a play on words.)