231. The Girls

March 15, 2024•Ep. 231•5 min 23 sec

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In the last few years, Nora has added quite a few pets to her family: dogs, geckos and hamsters. The latest addition to the pet crew has brought more joy to her daily routine than she imagined.

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{audio of the chickens}

Good morning from my farm.

It’s a small patch of backyard at my house in Phoenix, Arizona.

I have…grass. I have…a lemon tree. A mandarin orange tree. A grapefruit tree.

And six chickens.

Or — as I discovered recently — five chickens and 1 rooster.

I let one of my sons name the chickens, and so their names are: Suitcase, Jeffton, Jeff Bezos, KFC, Chicken Nugget and…I’m forgetting one of them so let’s call her Lisa VanderCluck.

I’ve had the chickens since my birthday on December 28, because we simply didn’t have enough creatures in our house. It felt lonely with just two adults, three children, 1 gecko, 2 dogs and 3 hamsters.

So on my birthday, I drove to the ranch supply store in north phoenix and stocked up on feed, and a heat lamp, and six little baby chickens.

Every morning, I wake up early and go out to see the girls (and that one guy). I make sure they have fresh water. I give them pets. I give them fresh feed. I open the door of their run and let them explore the yard while we all get ready for our day.

Before I bike to work, I open the door and get them back in the run because WE HAVE WILD COYOTES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!

And at night, I go and check on them again, turn on their heat lamp, and watch them walk up the little ramp into their little house.

They’re just now old enough that I can give them vegetable scraps from our kitchen, and we’ve known each other long enough that they’re not scared of me. They like being held. They don’t mind the dogs at all. And they move around our yard as a flock, ready to protect each other and very excited when they find some bugs to eat.

In a few weeks, they’ll start laying eggs and I’ll have a new habit to add to my mornings.

There are a lot of things that give my life joy and structure and meaning to them, and the girls are one of them. Even if they’re not all girls.