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The Continued Adventures in Backyard Chicken Ownership…
Yesterday Josh walks into our office and says what no chicken owner wants to hear:
“We’re missing a chicken.”
Ummmm WHAT?!?! How are we missing a chicken?! I mean, last fall I saw a hawk hanging around our backyard cuz he was looking for a chicken dinner, but that was because our dog was in the other room and couldn’t tell us something was up. And none of the neighborhood cats messes with our chickens! Where could Judy Plume have gone?!?!
Josh went back out to the yard and searched for another 20 minutes. And then he noticed the box under our lemon tree.
The sturdy one that sits on its side as an option for places for our chickens to lay their eggs.
The one that was now sitting overturned.
“Nooooo….,” he thought, “she’s not under there.”
But oh yes. Yes she was. With 2 eggs, which leads us to believe she’d been stuck under there for 2 days. Josh let her out and she hightailed it for the water bowls, where she spent the next 10 minutes drinking, poor girl!
Moral of the story? A chicken in the hand is worth 2 eggs in the cardboard box you find her in 2 days after she’s gone missing.
Freelance illustrator Steph Calvert is an award-winning artist with 24 years of experience working as a creative professional. She is based in McDonough, Georgia, just south of Atlanta.
Steph Calvert has expertise as a children’s book illustrator. She is an expert surface pattern designer for art licensing and creates line drawings for publishing and product design. Steph has years of additional expertise as a mural artist, creating original art, and logo design for small businesses. She is currently querying literary agents with her first author/illustrator book projects.
Writing CLIENTS INCLUDE
Moonfrye.com
OC Weekly
Educational Highlights
National SCBWI Conference, 2023
Illustration Summer Camp – The Highlights Foundation, 2021
Make Art That Sells, 2017
BFA in Computer Art – SCAD, 1999
4 responses to “The Continued Adventures in Backyard Chicken Ownership…”
Oh no!! Why didn’t the other chickens inform you this had happened? Maybe they tricked her to go under there! MAYBE they were trying to rub her out! You better check the other chickens for shives (sp?).
I want chickens but I don’t think we can have them where we live. Plus my big dog would try to eat them i think.
Chickens lay an egg a day??
AAHAHHAHA oh no they may be plottin against her! I’ll be sure to frisk em as they enter the chicken coop tonight, will report back on any shenanigans and contraband found!
Our dogs are actually pretty good about leaving the chickens alone for the most part, with just a couple of exceptions… Our cattle dog Jimmy will chase em around a little whenever he’s feeling rambunctious, and our terrier mix Betty sometimes forgets she’s not supposed to harass them. It’s like she thinks they’re puppies to be played with, and she’ll kinda tackle em sometimes when she’s trying to get them to play! It’s a good thing the birds are all fairly big now, it doesn’t seem to bug them much…
I have a feeling my bigger dog would get tired of them quick. But my little dog – he’d probably be like Betty and harass them but probably because he has a short man er dog complex.
I could REALLY use chickens laying an egg a day. Do you know how many eggs I go through a week! Or maybe I can just troll around your neighborhood, drop by “unexpectedly” and ask for some eggs. haha
HAHAHAHAHA for sure!! If you go through eggs like crazy you may wanna take a look at what the local laws are in terms of having some… we have 9 chickens and are getting about 6 eggs a day right now, and it costs less than 20 bucks a month to feed em. That’s a whole lotta batches of cupcakes!
The only downside is there is poo to clean up. Lots and lots of chicken poo. I don’t so much have to deal with it now because of my delicate condition, but I’ll be helpin Josh with it when the boy gets here and lemme tell ya it is no small job!