Meet Cory and Jason, our chicken keepers of the month for September!
What does your significant other think of your chickens?
I've always enjoyed hearing how people got started into their adventures of backyard chicken keeping. And something that I always hear is, "I would have gotten into chickens sooner but my partner hated the thought of getting chickens. It took some time to convince them!" It's rare when both people in a relationship are super excited about chicken keeping. But that's not the case with this month's CityChick chicken keepers of the month!
That's why I'm thrilled to introduce our first ever couple for our CityChick chicken keepers of the month for September!
Meet Cory and Jason!
Cory and Jason showing off their pet Silkie and Buff Orpington.
Who is Cory and Jason in a tweet?
Cory is a theatre teacher and director in Fulton County and an avid listener of NPR. Jason is a journalist with a passion for the safety, health and happiness of all animals. In addition to chickens, they have 4 turtles, 3 dogs, and live a plant-based diet.
How long have you been keeping chickens in Atlanta?
We're newbies to the world of chickens - getting our first chickens back in late May.
What's your favorite thing about keeping chickens?
Our enjoyment of our chickens comes to life in many different ways. One of our favorite things is feeding them special treats. They love their various melons - Water, Honey, canteloupe. They go crazy over live meal worms and lettuce. Our enjoyment over their love of food has actually led to conversations in the produce aisle debating whether or not we believe the chickens will enjoy this or that, and whether or not to get it. Along with their excitement over food often comes the wide range of sounds our chickens make that bring delight and curiousity about how they're experiencing their world. We can always tell when they're happy, angry, anxious, sad - they are very transparent with their feelings.
Inside view of the coop area. Coops within a coop!
How many chickens do you have?
We have six chickens. We have 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Rhode Island Red, 2 Silkies, and 2 Silkie Showgirls.
Some of the lucky ladies at Corey and Jason's urban homestead.
What's your favorite breed of chicken and why?
It's hard to have a favorite. Each one of our chickens has characteristics and personalities that we find endearing. However, if we had to pick, we are quite fond of our silkies. They're just precious little fluff balls.
Check out "Little Edie"
What is the one chicken-keeping item that every chicken keeper needs to have?
While I know people have differing opinions on what works best for their chickens, for us we found gold in keeping our coop clean when we discovered the kiln-dried pelletized bedding. Once a bit of moisture gets to it, it starts to puff up and break down making it easy to use a kitty litter scoop to remove waste and the chickens love kicking it around and digging in it.
What advice would you have for any new chicken keeper?
For us, we would say be prepared for the three 'P's' - Poop, Predators, and Protection. Poop - they do it... A LOT! I mean, we knew they would, BUT it's a never ending cycle, so get your products, tools (for me it's this tiny little rake and kitty litter scooper), and your daily routine down. Predators - there are a lot of them. There are only so many ways to protect from death from above (hawks), but we have realized that we cannot spend our days constantly monitoring there every move outside. In short, we learned quickly that free range was not an option for us as the hawks are brutal. We were outside with our dogs, literally within 10 feet of our chicks grazing, when a hawk took one of them, so the hawk was not detoured by our being there. This event prompted us to realize the necessity of building a large run off the north side of our coop so they have ample room to roam safely. Finally, protection against those predators. -continued-
Our coop has two feet of underground netting extending beyond the coop perimeter which has been covered with rocks. Additionally, we have installed reactive solar lights and regularly put down a naphthalene-free snake repellent. Since the elements of nature are another component to protect your chickens from, we have installed a solar panel so we can run fans and coop heaters depending on the season. We decided to go solar given the location of our coop in relationship to the house, and it has been working like a dream.
Is there anything better than holding a chicken?Check out CityChick's chicken keeper of the month for August by clicking here.
Check out CityChick's chicken keeper of the month for July by clicking here.
Check out CityChick's chicken keeper of the month for June by clicking here.
Check out CityChick's chicken keeper of the month for May by clicking here.
Have you ever been called a crazy chicken person? Contact us at email@CityChickAtl.com and you could be our next chicken keeper of the month!
