Chooks

SOUTH PACIFIC-

Samantha (Kitchen Assistant) writes:

I first stumbled upon the word “chook” while reading the cover of a New Zealand book entitled The Chook Book--a backyard guide to caring for chickens. Chickens (or chooks, as they are referred to by many kiwis) have long been a dream for a creaturely addition to the Old Convent family. However, while we may have dreamt about our own flock of chicks to provide eggs, we needed to find a sustainable egg source so we could contine cooking & eating the foods we do.

On average, a group of 25 students/staff/professors consumes roughly 60 eggs a week. Quiche night alone accounts for at least 40 eggs. Regardless of how many eggs end up in our bellies, it is important for us to know about our eggs and the chickens that lay them. Where do these chickens live? Who cares for them? Do these chickens have the opportunity to be as chicken-ly as their Creator intended? Do their care-givers receive fair payment for their efforts? By asking these questions and doing a fair bit of researching and conversing, we found a wonderful neighbor, Helen, who enthusiastically raises laying hens.

Helen has a passion for chickens. She and other family members provide a home for several dozen feathered fowl, including guiea fowl, domestic and passerby ducks, roosters, and, of course, chickens. In talking with Helen we began to realize our dream of caring for our own chicken flock was quite possible.

Students from the Fall 2010 semester were instrumental in preparing a home for the chickens…a custom-made coop was literally built from the ground up, mostly composed of materials found around the Old Convent property and salvaged from the local dump. We learned more of the crucial ins-and-outs of raising happy chickens from Michael, our good friend and neighbor, without whom we probably would still be chicken-less. Michael gave us five young hens to fill the vacancy in the new coop, not to mention plenty of ongoing advice when a question came up.

Our chickens adjusted to their home rather nicely and even managed to earn names. Each hen is affectionately named after five previous Student Life Coordinators (and yes, we can tell them apart!)…Gretchen, Marcel, Abe, Matt and Kevin. It’s a pretty wonderful family.

February 15^th marked a rather monumental day…the first egg was laid and collected! Since then, we’ve been collecting 3-6 eggs a day. While the amount of our chickens’ eggs doesn’t completely satisfy the demand of eggs consumed, it certainly helps to fulfill it. We are still able to support Helen in buying her free-range eggs. We are also able to better learn all of the work, care and love required for obtaining the eggs we so easily crack open into our foods. And, we have befriended and learned the habitats of another being of God’s creation. Chickens (although not the brightest) really are beautiful creatures.

Photos: Samantha (Kitchen Assistant)