trystinn | Chickens 101

There are few things more degrading to a chicken than being stuffed in a cage, tossed in a car and driven to a strange location where they are then brought out for Show & Tell. Even so, our ladies and lads did great!

Scarlett, the Professional Chicken, was absolutely wonderful. I set her up on a roost (very much like a parrot) before class and she proceeded to have a great time showing off for folks as they came in the room. The space the Grange uses for classes is also rented by the Christ the King Church, which means there is a very large rustic wooden cross in the room. Which Scarlett thought would be a great thing to explore! It took us awhile to get her down, to which she complained bitterly for awhile until I gave her some feed to make it up to her.

Big Blue was an awesome model of well-behaved rooster. He submitted himself generously for petting and even let folks tug on his wattles. Most folks, I've found, have a sort of preternatural fear of roosters, which is quite sad. They are delightful guys if you're willing to pick tolerant breeds and handle them regularly. Even Napoleon, our little bantam cockerel, was well behaved and let folks pet him.

The chicks were a hit, of course. Who can resist floofy goodness? I thought they'd be the highlight of the class until someone asked me about interpreting chicken noises. I went through several examples of noises the feathered ladies and lads make, which began a very lively Who Can Top This contest. I crowed - Big Blue crowed, then Napoleon crowed. I sang the Happy Song and Wendy, our little bantam smooth-feathered Silkie pullet answered with her own. I brought her out of the cage and let her sing along for awhile, folks were absolutely charmed at this unexpected song bird in our midst.

All in all it went very well. The chicken breed spreadsheet was very informative, though I ought to have included a Legend. The new version has one. I'm looking forward to teaching the next class and hope we can double our numbers next month!