A Happy and Proud Hatching Day

by Jennifer Burcke

The welcome sign is always out on the coop at 1840 Farm. It usually welcomes guests to our farm. This week, it will be welcoming our new batch of day-old chicks.

The big day has finally arrived! Today is the hatching day for our new chicks. We’ve been waiting for this day to come for several months now. We’ve been talking about and planning for these chicks since January. In a few short days, we’ll finally be able to welcome them to their new home.

In so many ways, it seems like old news that we are chicken keepers here at 1840 Farm. Yet, we have only had chickens for 18 months. In the grand scheme of things, it is an incredibly short amount of time. I guess it is the weight of our decision to become chicken keepers that makes it seem as though they have been here for such a long time.

The seven hens that call our coop home have changed us in so many ways. Before they arrived, I would have called myself a gardener. Now I wear the title “farmer” with immense pride. Somehow, “gardener” just doesn’t suffice anymore. Once you begin tending to the daily needs of a flock of hens and collecting the resulting fresh eggs, “farmer” just seems more appropriate.

Not only did our hens transform our family into three generations of proud family farmers, but they inspired us to think bigger. They showed us that we could handle more on our farm than we would have ever dreamed possible. The hens inspired us to add a herd of dairy goats to our farm. One short year later, we have experienced the birth of our first goat kids and the daily pleasure of beginning our morning milking in the quiet of the barn.

It’s really quite amazing that seven heritage breed hens could teach us so much without ever uttering a human word. They didn’t have to. With every egg they left us in the nest box, we were reminded that nature, when properly tended to, holds the power to return the favor tenfold. It was amazing to see that scraps from the garden and a bowl of warm oatmeal could be transformed into delicious fresh eggs. Being entertained by their antics each day was merely a bonus.

Now, as we prepare to welcome the newest and smallest members to our farm, I can’t help but think of the day in 2010 when the first chicks arrived. We had no idea what to expect when we opened their shipping box. Everything we knew about chickens had come straight from reading books and blogs just like Community Chickens in the months before their arrival.

We read earnestly, looking for information from chicken keepers and experts alike. We visited neighbors who kept chickens to see how they had outfitted their coops. We talked to people we knew who had kept chickens in the past. We willingly and gratefully accepted advice and encouragement from every direction. We hoped that we knew what we were doing and that we wouldn’t make too many mistakes. We hoped that we wouldn’t regret choosing to add chickens to our farm.

We did make mistakes. Some were due to our inexperience; some were simply a matter of the trial and error that goes along with everyday life. Each mistake taught us something. Each misstep led us down the path of learning on the job and brought us closer to becoming experienced chicken keepers.

We’re still learning every day. The hens have taught us about egg production, calcium needs, molting, and how to cope with living through a hurricane by eating fresh eggs on the grill every night. I can honestly say that we have yet to experience a moment of regret regarding our decision to add chickens to our daily lives. Instead, we take immense pride in our chickens and our role as their keepers. Maybe that’s why we choose to welcome visitors to 1840 Farm by drawing their attention to our coop and its welcome sign.

While tending to our chickens every day has become a common activity, we are just as excited about the arrival of these day-old chicks as the last batch. My children have been counting off the days for months. First the proclamation was the number of months until they were hatched. Then months turned into weeks and finally to the number of days until we arrived at today’s hatching day.

Now that the day is here, I will summon the knowledge gained in the fall of 2010 to prepare for the arrival of these chicks. I’ll make sure not to be midway through a session with the canning pot this time. Instead, I’ll be outside working to prepare our raised beds for planting this summer’s garden.

I’ll be ready to jump in the truck and go retrieve the chirping package from the local post office as soon as the phone call comes. When we return, these chicks will be introduced to the warm environment of the brooding pen that will be their home for the next few months. The food will be waiting; the water and apple cider vinegar will be flowing. The heat provided by the brooder will be ready to comfort them after their long and arduous journey to 1840 Farm.

My children will be close at hand while this process unfolds. They will take an active role and learn how to handle the day-old baby chicks from the moment they arrive. As I watch them, I will hope that as adults they will chose to be chicken keepers and also to teach another generation how to do so. I will hope that they will share their lifelong knowledge with friends, neighbors and family.

After the baby chicks have been welcomed to 1840 Farm, we will observe them for a few moments and then leave them to acclimate to their new surroundings. Then we’ll mark the time on the clock, and prepare to make the next chick check two hours later. Each time, my children will come along with clipboard in hand to document the temperature in the brooding pen, the activity and health of the chicks, and any changes that we make to their environment.

By performing these simple tasks, my children are proudly claiming their place as sixth-generation New England farmers. They are committing to memory how to care for a flock of chickens from birth to laying hens. As adults, they will not need to consult a book in order to learn how to prepare the brooder or tend to the daily needs of their hens. Instead, they will only need to draw on the experiences that they are collecting right now.

Hatching day will be a happy occasion here at 1840 Farm. A collection of new chicks will emerge from their shells and begin their journey to our home and our hearts. Two children will begin their formal education as chicken keepers. They will grow and learn together taking turns occupying the role of teacher and student respectively. Me? I’ll be the proud mother hen watching the beautiful story unfold.

I know that you are as proud of your flock and coop as we are. All of us at 1840 Farm would like to help you welcome guests to your family’s home in the same way that we do. One lucky winner will be chosen to receive a handpainted “Welcome to our Coop” wooden sign to proudly display on their coop. The winner’s sign will be handcrafted at 1840 Farm and customized with the year that their coop was established.

To enter, simply leave a comment below with the year that your coop was (or will be) established. You can earn a second entry by commenting on my post announcing this drawing on Facebook. Finally, for those of you on Pinterest, you can pin this story to your own Pinterest board, mention that you have done so in your comment below, and earn a third entry.

Entries will be accepted until Sunday, May 6, at midnight. I will use www.random.org to select a winner and announce them in my Community Chickens post and on Facebook next Monday, May 7, 2012. Good luck to all who enter!

To make sure that you don’t miss any of the excitement, giveaways or unending supply of cute photos of baby chicks during the A Year in the Life at 1840 Farm Series, follow us on Facebook to read the daily news from the coop at 1840 Farm.

27 Comments

debby

8 years ago

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