Nobody here but us chickens
West coast woman to give chicken-keeping webinar Wednesday
PASADENA — Kai Shea thinks the chickens his family keeps at their Pasadena home look like dinosaurs.
“They kind of look like pterodactyls,” said the sixyear-old of the 10 chickens the family has.
On Wednesday, May 13, Kai’s mom, Becky Shea, will be sharing her knowledge of raising backyard chickens during the Western Environment Centre’s first food skills webinar.
Becky has been raising chickens for about seven years, so Kai has grown up with them.
“I like all them, but one I like the most,” he said. That one he’s named Fast Truck. “She’s the fastest one I think.”
His three-year-old brother Aiden’s favourite is Best Best Friend.
Kai said it took about a week for them to come up with the names.
He likes having the chickens around and will play with them and chase them around the yard.
“And sometimes they chase me when I have food in my hands.”
Helping feed the chickens is something mom has the boys often do. Kai put some food outside for them Monday morning, but he said they never ate it.
“And I like to feed them worms,” he said.
Kai doesn’t think it’s strange to have chickens as pets because they are fun, and the bonus is they get eggs. He likes to eat hardboiled eggs or use them in homemade ice cream that he’s helped make before.
Becky is a board member with the Corner Brookbased Western Environment Centre and facilitated two live sessions on raising chickens last year. But due to COVID-19, the organization had to rethink how to offer the session and decided to do it via a webinar using Zoom.
The chickens she keeps are all laying hens, but with food independence in mind, she plans to venture into the meat birds this year.
Her main motivation for getting started was simply wanting eggs. Knowing she has a ready-made food source never gets old. They get eight or nine eggs a day and with a few different types of chickens, they’ll get some different coloured ones.
“It’s enjoyable and they taste good.”
With so many eggs there’s enough to share a couple dozen a week with neighbours and friends.
Outside of being a food source, the chickens have become a big part of her family’s life and are just like another pet around the home.
“I’m an animal lover in general, so it’s just fun to watch them out foraging in the woods here and have them free-ranging.”
She also enjoys watching her children’s interaction with the chickens. She said the kids enjoy collecting eggs and feeding the chickens, which all have their own personalities.
The beginner workshop will introduce people to coop needs, caring for new chicks and keeping happy, healthy chickens.
Starting out, Becky said it’s important to check with your municipality on what is allowed — find out if there are any restrictions on numbers and if you’re allowed to keep roosters.
The next step is to source the chicks, which can be difficult at the moment as a lot of people are ordering them.
“They are social animals, so ideally you’re going to start with at least a few, four or five,” she said.
In terms of the coop, she said there are different recommendations on the size and the space needed that she’ll cover in the session.
Her chickens stay in their coop in the winter and she has an enclosed run so they are able to get out and do some scratching in the dirt.
“I find it’s a pretty simple animal to take care of. You just need to make sure they have food and water. They’re pretty low maintenance once you have everything set up.”
As for keeping them happy, she said they do need space, so they’re not cramped, and this will keep them from pecking at each other. She also recommends having items in their coop like perches, totes of sand for them to dig in and even a hanging head of cabbage will keep them entertained.
She thinks there will be a bit of interest in the session. With the pandemic, delays in ferry runs and this winter’s snowmageddon, she said people are looking for something to do.
“Everyone has a little extra time on their hands. Time to start projects.”
And people are starting to think a bit more about their food availability.
“The food environment at the moment and food independence is a hot topic.”
The webinar will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Participation is free, but participants need to register and can do so by emailing info@ wecnl.ca.