Living With Decisions
It's important to not make decisions that one will later regret. Today's action on a decision made several days ago is not settling without a fight. It came to a point of choosing our personal welfare over the welfare of a couple chickens. It sounds really stupid to someone who doesn't embrace animals or to someone who doesn't consider chickens animals of the pet kind. I never would have EVER thought I would EVER have chickens let alone think they could even become pets. But now that I've experienced it, I know that it is wholeheartedly possible. Moreso, now that I no longer have chickens, I know the pain I feel without having them around.
Living in the suburbs and having chickens just doesn't mix well. Especially if you're in a city that doesn't allow zoning for those chickens. As many people know, and even more don't know, large metro areas are passing ordinances that allow city-dwellers to have 2-3 hens for home egg production. My metro area isn't one of them and so we decided to say SCREW THE MAN and get a couple of layers anyway. We didn't have any complaints and therefore no run-ins with the law but we made a difficult decision to get rid of the girls anyway. The bottom line is now isn't the time and here isn't the place to have them. They're very, VERY fussy in the morning, well, Ella is. And in the afternoon, Ginger chimes in. There is no way our neighbors could allow that noise for much longer without bringing it to our attention. And not to mention, it was getting on our nerves and so our personal welfare was at odds.
The girls almost moved a couple weeks ago but I backed out. My heart was so set on keeping them and I felt that we'd not fully given them a chance to mature and settle in to their hen-ness. They had some adjusting to do and I decided that we needed to allow them the time to do so. Apparently, our girls just like, no, LOVE attention and so I found myself catering to their every need. What can I say?.. I have my nurturing moments. Over this last long holiday weekend, with neighbors throwing pool parties and hosting cookouts, it just got to be too much. It had become completely apparent that our chickens owned us instead of the other way around.
So, I took them to a feed store this morning and am struggling with that decision. When I saw the other chickens at this place, I couldn't help but see how gorgeous our girls were! Plump and prissy, so pretty. It's going to take me some time to settle down and take comfort in knowing that we did what was truly best for us. It was a learning experience, they're just dumb chickens, right?
But it didn't help that Ginger hopped up on my shoulder this morning and nestled into place where she felt completely comfortable and cared for. They trusted us and I trust that we made the right decision for all of us.
Living in the suburbs and having chickens just doesn't mix well. Especially if you're in a city that doesn't allow zoning for those chickens. As many people know, and even more don't know, large metro areas are passing ordinances that allow city-dwellers to have 2-3 hens for home egg production. My metro area isn't one of them and so we decided to say SCREW THE MAN and get a couple of layers anyway. We didn't have any complaints and therefore no run-ins with the law but we made a difficult decision to get rid of the girls anyway. The bottom line is now isn't the time and here isn't the place to have them. They're very, VERY fussy in the morning, well, Ella is. And in the afternoon, Ginger chimes in. There is no way our neighbors could allow that noise for much longer without bringing it to our attention. And not to mention, it was getting on our nerves and so our personal welfare was at odds.
The girls almost moved a couple weeks ago but I backed out. My heart was so set on keeping them and I felt that we'd not fully given them a chance to mature and settle in to their hen-ness. They had some adjusting to do and I decided that we needed to allow them the time to do so. Apparently, our girls just like, no, LOVE attention and so I found myself catering to their every need. What can I say?.. I have my nurturing moments. Over this last long holiday weekend, with neighbors throwing pool parties and hosting cookouts, it just got to be too much. It had become completely apparent that our chickens owned us instead of the other way around.
So, I took them to a feed store this morning and am struggling with that decision. When I saw the other chickens at this place, I couldn't help but see how gorgeous our girls were! Plump and prissy, so pretty. It's going to take me some time to settle down and take comfort in knowing that we did what was truly best for us. It was a learning experience, they're just dumb chickens, right?
But it didn't help that Ginger hopped up on my shoulder this morning and nestled into place where she felt completely comfortable and cared for. They trusted us and I trust that we made the right decision for all of us.
posted by Juli at 12:56 PM
4 Comments:
They are not just dumb chickens but being owned by a chicken is not high on my priority list. I can sense clearly how you feel Juli, they have been more than just egg layers to you. I trust something will fill the void in time.
I'm sure it was a tough decision, as you may remember we raised a duck a few years ago that I intended to keep, but in the end felt it was good for neither the duck nor for us, so we released him at a local duck pond where - thankfully - he ended up being very happy. We visited several times in the months before we moved, and his brazen, human-loving self would come running every time we sat down with that bread (and all his new friends would follow).
I'm sure your girls will be just fine :)
Oh no. I'm really sorry to hear this. And I agree with anon up there... these were no "dumb chickens". They were *your* chickens, and I'm sure the time will come again in the future that you'll get to have another go at it.
Maybe you need a hamster? ;)
Sorry about the chickens. You probably made the right decision though. You don't want to piss off all your neighbors. Maybe someday, some other place.
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