6/5/2025
A neighbor from down the road reached out yesterday asking if we wanted a rooster. And that she’s overrun with eggs. And that she’s selling extras for $5 a dozen. Strangely, I didn’t immediately say no. Hmm…
Ever since we began thinking about Base Camp and making plans, the idea of chickens has been floating around but never written down. In other words, I’ve always kind of thought that we’d have chickens for eggs and natural fertilizer and a good occupation for the kids, but have never gotten very serious about it.
Maybe it was that after the first season of steers behind us with that mostly figured out, and a good bit of the tractor shed mostly converted into a lamb pen, and our 4H lamb project well under way, chickens just seemed a bit more likely. And maybe it was the idea of eggs paying for themselves. And maybe I’m just plain nuts. But that conversation got me to thinking more seriously about chickens. I even spent a few minutes thinking about a mobile chicken coop. I guess I am probably nuts.
But let’s not get hasty here. While it’s true that the steers are not completely figured out and the tractor shed rebuild is not completely finished. And it’s also true that the back deck is still not built. Or a permanent place to park my vehicle or kids’ vehicles out of the weather. I’ve actually got a pretty long list of projects still in the queue. But a chicken coop and some laying hens is a pretty small project. And there would be some benefits.
For starters, eggs. Potentially lots of them. Potentially enough for the kids to sell some. That’s definitely more appealing than buying them at the store. And we eat a bunch of eggs. And could easily eat more.
A job for the kids. Even though ten minutes a day for three kids is not much, every bit of responsibility at their age is good for them. And since jobs for kids usually mean jobs for us too, it’s a great way to spend meaningful time together. And that may be the biggest benefit of all.
So perhaps we’ll get some chickens before long. And perhaps we’ll call the whole enterprise something like… The Kids’ Cackleberries!