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Have you ever latched onto a dream hard? You know, when you get really into a thing and decide that it’s your life’s goal to achieve said thing and that you are now obsessed with said thing? For me, it was backyard chickens.
I was living the life of a city girl and I decided: I need chickens.
I can’t recall what brought this on, but that was it. I could not die happy until I had a flock of fluffy butts supplying me with never ending eggs that I could gather every morning.
Unfortunately for me, I was living in a one bedroom apartment in Los Angeles at the time. While I already managed to shove two cats and a dog in there, chickens just weren’t going to be allowed according to my lease.
Lame.
Looking back, I may or may not have started plotting the next upcoming years around getting to a place where I could own chickens. Everyone knew this about me. I was the weird chicken person.
Speaking of which.
Go watch the documentary Chicken People. Thank me later.
Anyway, back to me being a weirdo day in and day out.
I wasn’t completely out of my depth thinking that I could take care of the chickens. My mom grew up on a farm in Finland and by the time I was a little kid, they had pared down to just chickens. It was my job to go gather the eggs in the morning. I was no stranger to farm animals and farm work. I quite enjoyed being trusted with egg gathering as my morning chore.
My grandmother’s flock was there to do a job. They weren’t going to be glorified pets like I imagined my flock would be. I was dreaming of owning one of each breed so I could have the cutest designer flock known to man kind. I imagined a beautiful flock scattered across my yard, like little jewels adorning my lawn.
During this torturous chicken free period I was gifted a few chicken/farm books to keep my spirits up. One of them was the holy grail of chicken books. If you want back yard chickens you MUST get this book. Kathy Shea Mormino also runs an amazing blog with everything you could ever want to know about backyard chickens.
The Holy Grail of Chicken Books:
The Chicken Chick's guide to backyard chickens
Kathy Shea Mormino
Listen. If you plan on owning backyard chickens… GET. THIS. BOOK. Seriously, I can not recommend it enough. It’s the only chicken book you need. It is an incredibly well thought out guide to owning and caring for backyard chickens. It’s easy and fun to read and you will quickly become a chicken expert.
Bonus Book:
Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of Country Life
Julia Rothman
This book is a wild and wondrous mix of things. Part gorgeous book of illustrations, part farm educational guide, part family recipe book. I loved it. Julia Rothman takes us along to her in laws family farm. It’s a great book to daydream to.
Oh, and by the way.
Dreams do come true. I now have the sweetest little flock of eight chickens that I adore. I love looking out my window and seeing them scratching around in the yard.
I’m off to snuggle with the chickens!
-Anne
