Back in January of 2008, when Ronnie wandered onto our yard I was completely taken aback. I had no idea of the first thing about chickens except they leg eggs, play pranks on hound dogs, and are constantly at war with Chicken Hawks approximately 1/5 thier size (if you didn’t get that, you should go back and watch some Looney Toons, it’ll do you good). My wife and I are the embrace life as it comes type of people so an unclaimed rooster on our land was not just an animal but an opportunity for experiencing something new in life and getting free eggs while we are at it.
As I started to research chickens online I started to realize that even though we have a relatively large plot of land and are lucky enough to be surrounded by some empty woods, chickens are a very possible urban animal. They’re simple, quiet (long as you don’t have a rooster), cheap and low maintenance. They keep out some basic pests, will eat just about anything, provide free high quality fertilizer for my wife’s gardening and of course provide food. All for less care and expense than the average household animal.
Before I ordered my first set of Day Old Chicks from a hatchery, I went and spoke with a local farmer about the complications of owning chickens. I checked out his chicken coop so I could design my own. I asked him which breeds to get and what it was like to slaughter them should I ever decide to try. He more or less confirmed what I had read online with the exception of explaining that our climate here in NC is so mild there not much need to worry about them being too cold at all; which made a big impact on my coop design.
So within a couple of weeks I had drawn up the designs for my new coop, gotten some big Rubbermaid style bins and heat lamps and order the chicks from an online hatchery. Once the chicks had arrived, within minutes I realized that these were fascinating and complex creatures. Being a lover of the study of human relationships and interaction I decided to take this as a chance to study the society of our chickens. Hence a blog. A good chance to let other people know how interesting chickens can be, how fun, how easy and having rare breeds around – how beautiful.
The Chick Camera was named because originally I had my video camera setup to catch some video of the chicks growing. I intended to record an hour+ per day and chop it into pieces as part of my study, however I found quickly I just didn’t have time for it. So – the name stuck only now, the camera is my wife’s Canon PowerShot A95.
I wonder how many people stumble across this site looking for…other things. Unless they all start to comment, there’s no telling.