chickens to transition

So I said I wasn't going to make this blog about our transition from country to country but that's a bit of a lie.  I realize that transition is what we're in and thus defines a lot of reasons for what we do.  One of them being......chickens.  Somewhere back in the 1st time that we lived in Malawi we built a coop, got baby chicks and a newfound love was born !  The purpose, however, was to have our own fresh supply of eggs. Oddly, in Malawi where chickens are seen strutting along the roads, hanging upside down on the side of a bicycle rider
 and everywhere there was often enough a shortage of eggs.  Generally right at a holiday where much baking was required.  So being blessed with a big yard we built an impressive coop and there began the learning of all things chicken.  Except for 1 thing - we were also blessed with a gardener who pretty well cared for those chickens on his own as long as we provided the supplies.  To be completely honest, we really just played with the cute little fuzzy chicks and then a few weeks later up to the coop they went where they were more pets to us than anything.  Sometimes we'd catch grasshoppers ( which btw, throw chickens into a frenzy of culinary delight) and shake them into the coop and sometimes we'd collect the eggs. Everyone, the Felgs and gardener's family alike, profited from the eggs.  We loved having chickens so much so that when we moved to a new house, so did the chickens.   The chickens moved with us!  And while I have a bunch of chicken stories and a ton of reasons why you should have your own chickens ( thus more posts in future) this post is about chickens in transition. When we made the big move across the ocean ( airlines generally frown on cages of 15 or more chickens so we left them there)  and settled down in a brand new place there were a couple things we knew we had to do as soon as possible to help us feel right about ourselves.  Those were:  1.  find a source of raw milk (check)and 2. find a source of local eggs and get ourselves some chickens of our own. ( check)
This time, however, no gardener.  Time to do the chicken thing on our own.  But we have them, 8 light brahmas and 1 silkie. 

Adorable.  First thing to know about chickens is:  it takes at least 4-6 months for a hen to mature into an egg layer.  So it's a labor of love keeping those little cuties alive and healthy and safe until you see a single egg.  But we've got a source of free ranged chicken eggs in the meantime ( whew!) and our girls are growing wildly.  Here's how they look at 6 weeks !

One last thing.  We don't know yet if they are really girls.  Could be hens.  Could be roosters.  We got them from a local farm and its anyone's guess for awhile.  I tried desperately to read up on gender identification in chickens.  It's not easy to the untrained eye.  I think I'll know pretty soon.  I keep looking them over.   ha!  Will let you know.  The main thing is....we got chickens again.  And it helps us feel more at home.

(ps.....I'm working on making my blog into an official website.  stay tuned for a change in address when that happens.)