It All Started With A One Legged Chicken...

I guess I should go ahead and start this blog.  If anything to get my friends off my back.  I am almost four years into sharing my crazy chicken experiences on Facebook, and every post at least one friends says I need to start a blog, write it all down, extend past my social media.  The start of a new year is as good of a time to start as any.  I will start at the beginning of my chicken adventure and try not to ramble.

It all started with a one legged chicken.  I will set the scene- enter a woman- 30 something (that is all you are getting)- who has always loved chickens, owned chickens in high school, has begged, pleaded and fought with her husband for chickens for well over ten years.  Woman makes a trip at the beginning of the Covid Era- April 2020- to her parents' farm to visit.  Her parents had just gotten a new batch of chicks in to raise.  Woman takes one look inside the brooder of chicks, nicknamed 'The Coffin' by her parents, and falls instantly in love with a deformed baby chick.  And that is where the story begins.

When I say I fell instantly in love, I am not at all over exaggerating. Momma was calling this little tiny yellow chick Sugar.  Of course I knew she needed a better name than that.  She technically had two legs, however one bent upwards and she had the cutest little velociraptor claw.  I decided right then and there her name would be Chick Norris. I would own her.  She would be the reason I owned a flock of my own chickens.  I held Chick Norris all day long at my parents, snuggling her to my chest and in my pocket.  Kissing her goodbye and telling her I would be back to get her.

I drove home planning out a way to tell my husband that I was getting chickens, no if, ands, or buts.  I also was dreaming of coops that would allow a one legged chicken to hop around without issue.  The news went over better with the hubby than I thought it would.  My job of 13 years had just closed.  So I had a little more free time on my hands, the means to start this project, and the drive to get it all started.  So we agreed on Chick Norris and 2-3 more chicks to start.  Which is completely laughable as I look back at it.  

One week later, I had my Chick Norris home with 4 extra female chicks. My momma had asked me to pick her up some more chicks when I went to pick out mine at Orschelns.  What started as, I would come out with 2-3 and she would come out with 8 tops, ended up with me leaving the store with over 15 chicks.  My niece and nephew helped me name the rest of my 'Chick Pack'...RockChick the Barred Rock, BatChick the Easter Egger (she was black with the cutest yellow mask), ChickMunk the Easter Egger (because well, she looked like a chipmunk), and Lacey the Silver Laced Wyandotte.

Fast forward to January 2024, our differently abled Chick Norris helped me create a life that I never even imagined having. I am forever grateful to her.  She gave us two years and three good months before her tiny body gave out.  We hope that she enjoyed her life as much as we enjoyed her, but more on her later. In 44 months we have expanded our pack to over 30, added ducks to our flock, converted our pole barn into a chicken coop, and have had many good and bad adventures on the farm.  I can't wait to share these adventures and lessons so hopefully my friends, family, and fellow chicken tenders may learn a thing or two about life with chickens.  We strive to use our resources, have chickens on a budget, be practical, and learn as we go. It may not always be pretty, it may not always be fun, but it is always worth it. 

And it all started with a one legged chicken...