Workin' Mom Homestead

Ahhh the poultry saga. We got our birds in June 2024. If you love poultry drama, read on.

I begged my husband for chickens for 6 years but he always said “No, the dog will eat them.” A couple of my neighbors were getting chickens and I was so envious. Raising chickens is a big commitment, so we both needed to be on board. Finally, in the Spring of 2024, he caved and said I could get them. I, of course, would be responsible for them- feeding, cleaning out the coop, purchasing feed and bedding, etc. He however was responsible for the infrastructure. We had a two-story treehouse that was already there when we bought our house. He enclosed the bottom level and converted it into a coop. He also needed to build a run. When they say make sure you have everything ready before you buy the chicks, listen. We didn’t and we didn’t have the run ready by the time they moved into the coop and barely had the coop ready by the time they were old enough to move out.

So buying the chickens. I did research for weeks. I had a coworker who was going to get me them for free from his school’s hatching project. This was the main reason my husband had said yes- free. I bought a heating plate, food and water containers, pine shavings, and a bag of organic chick feed. I was ready for these chicks! He then tells me that he just found out that they changed the way they did the program. In the past they would have all these chicks that they didn’t know what to do with. This year, they got them for free from a farm but had to return them all. He offered to pay for them because he felt bad that he’d promised them to me, but he was told that they all had to be returned. He recommended a local farm (Butterhof’s) to me where I could get chicks, or Tractor Supply. My local Tractor Supply only had easter eggers at the time. My teenage stepson already thought eating eggs from the backyard would be weird, there was no way he’d eat them if they were green. So I called the farm. The farm tells me that they stopped selling chicks early that year because people weren’t buying them. They recommended this lady to me who “lived by the mall” and may still have some chicks. “Lives by the mall”…that sounded sketchy. But I texted her. We’ll go by her initials, ML.

So ML tells me she only has lavender orpingtons. Okay. I have no clue what those are, but their eggs aren’t green so it sounds good to me. Then she tells me that she only has “straight run” and if that’s okay. I told her I had no clue what that meant. She explained what that meant but since I was out of options, I told her that it would be fine, especially since she said she would trade any roosters for hens if I wanted. She then tells me that she also has ducks if I would like. I told her that I wasn’t ready for ducks and hadn’t done any research. Later that night, my step daughter, who was super excited to get chicks, said to me “I wish we could get ducks too.” I’m now wondering if she’s a mind reader. I tell my husband about it and his response is “just get the ducks”. Seriously? Not sure why I listened to him and the 13 year old.

It’s towards the end of June. ML asks to meet at Butterhof’s farm for the sale. I originally wanted six chick and two ducklings. She brings me four chicks and three ducklings all in one box. What can I do? My stepdaughter was sitting in the car so I just said okay and gave her $25. On the drive home, we’re super excited because they’re all so cute. My stepdaughter is holding the ducks and I realize that I don’t even know what kind of ducks these are. I ask ML and she tells me “quiet ones- scovys”. Scovys? I can’t find that online. After some research, we realized she was talking about Muscovy ducks. If you know anything about Muscovy ducks, you know that they’re the only breed of duck that isn’t a descendant of the Mallard. They are just as genetically related to ducks as they are to geese. So we have goose ducks. We brood them and the chickens all together in a cardboard box with no issues. A week before they were old enough to move outside, my husband still hadn’t finished the coop. The chickens are now flying out of the box (the box was within my son’s giant playpen in order to keep the dogs and toddler out), the dogs are freaking out, and we’re terrified that the dogs are going to eat them. My husband wants them out of the house because they keep flying out, so he finally finishes the chicken coop.

At this point we know we have one male duck (he was much bigger than the others) and two females. Regarding the chickens, we were pretty confident that we had at least one cockerel, but they were still too young to know for sure. Brooding ducklings with chicks was a little stressful because at a certain age I had to take the ducklings out every morning and evening to splash around in the baby pool so they could rinse out their nostrils and do all the things they say ducks need to do. Our favorite duck was the male. He just had the best personality. His name was Seminole. I spent a lot of time in the yard with the birds once they moved outside. I loved being with them. It was so peaceful. I still worked in the Summer but I was more on a part-time schedule. Once school started, I wasn’t able to spend as much time out back with them. Seminole’s personality started changing. Twice I heard my toddler cry out and when I turned, Seminole had knocked him down and was standing on him. He became very territorial. He started hissing a lot at us and biting our shoes and pants. Once he bit me through my pants and it actually left a small mark. This wasn’t playful. I couldn’t go outside unless I had the dogs with me because I was afraid he’d attack my son. He started attacking the German Shepherd (she’s very docile). Then he became brave enough to try to fight my Ridgeback. Finally he tried to attack my husband. I had joked about him becoming a Christmas goose, but my husband was done with him. We contacted ML and she said she’d trade us for a female. At this point we knew we had two roosters, so we asked to trade one of those as well.

My husband comes home from work to catch the drake and one of the roosters. He chose the rooster that didn’t go in the coop when the dog came out. No brainer. Now Seminole, that was tougher. He went out there with the Ridgeback and managed to catch him with a fishing net, but Seminole didn’t go down without a fight. Somehow my husband managed to get him and the rooster in the same box. Still not sure how he did that. He drove them to Butterhof farm to meet ML and trade for some females. 

The new female duck and hen seemed much smaller than the others, even though she said they were around the same age. Neither had lived outside yet, so of course I was nervous about putting them out in the coop their first night with us. However, my husband said we were never having birds in the house again after brooding this first group. The baby chicken, as we called her, never came out of the coop that first couple days. Then, she decided that she lived under the coop and would sleep outside, underneath the coop for a couple weeks. We ended up calling her Loquita because she’s crazy. The day after we got the new birds, one of the original ducks, Daisy, disappeared. I don’t know if she flew away or got eaten. She was just gone. I posted on my neighborhood Facebook group, I talked to neighbors, I walked around looking for her. I just hoped she’d come back. The baby duck, Mable, slept outside with Barbara the second night. That next day, Mable disappeared. I cannot believe I’m down to one duck. Poor Barbara slept all alone that night. I felt so bad. I had a hard time sleeping. I knew Daisy was alive because I saw her fly over the house that morning and into the woods, but she still hadn’t come back. Mable, I thought, was eaten for sure. The following morning, Daisy flew into the yard! I was so relieved. Barbara had her sister back. The reunion was so cute. I genuinely think Daisy didn’t want to leave, she just couldn’t figure out how to get back into the yard. Then that afternoon, a neighbor called me to tell me that her daughter found a duck in her friend’s yard and asked if I was missing one. Yes! Mable was found! I was so happy. I was back to three ducks.

So that ends the poultry saga. All of this drama before anyone is old enough to lay an egg! But Ricardo, Moira Rose, Whitney, Loquita, Barbara, Daisy and Mable are now one family.