Chicken culture

A chicken looks on outside of the chicken coop in the backyard of the Waiters’ home in Silver Springs Shores on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

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Posted September 4, 2024 | By Marian Rizzo, Correspondent

Tre Waiters wasn’t planning to buy anything the day he went to a farmer’s market.

“I was going there just to look around,” said Waiters, who ended up buying three baby chicks that day.

Waiters went back a couple more times and increased his backyard chicken ranch, eventually ending up with six hens, staying within the restrictions of the Marion County backyard chicken and fowl ordinance, which limits such ventures to six birds and only females.

The Waiters have a variety of breeds, including the popular all white American Bresse chickens, which they named Biscuit and Gravy; a Blue Saphire Gem named Morticia; a black Easter egger named Saline; and two Frizzle Orange Cochins, affectionately named Patty Melt and Rapunzel. Frizzle chickens are a gentle breed with feathers that curl outward.

For a shelter, Waiters constructed a 7-foot by 9-foot coop with two nesting boxes. Plus, his chickens have a large, fenced-in backyard to run around in.

“They’re free range,” Waiters said. “When I come home, I let them run around the backyard and they eat bugs. Gravy was the first one to drop an egg. What was crazy, I thought there was something wrong with her because she poofed up, and then she dropped her egg right in front of me.”

Besides getting eggs every day, Waiters said having chickens has been educational for his children, 5-year-old Enzo, and Leilani, who will turn 1 in October.

“Enzo catches grasshoppers and feeds the chickens out of his hands,” Waiters said. “I’m definitely glad we have them. They are like my second babies.”

Both Tre and his wife, Tiffany, grew up in the country, so having animals is nothing new to them. When Tre brought the chicks home, they moved right into the house. But that wasn’t going to last, said Tiffany.

“They were inside for a while when they were babies,” she said. “Within a couple months, they doubled in size. I said, ‘We’ve got to get them out of here.’”

“We don’t plan on eating them,” added Tiffany. “We just get the eggs.”

According to farmcrediteast.com, backyard chicken breeding has gained popularity. In addition to providing a consistent supply of fresh eggs, chickens are a natural form of pest control, and their manure contains nutrients that can be used as fertilizer for gardens, the website notes.

Michelle Sheehan and her daughter Kylie are owners of Feathered Manes, a local vendor of poultry and other animals.

Michelle Sheehan said her Easter Egger chicks sell for $5 each and they often sell out.

“Silkies are our best sellers,” said Sheehan. “They’re more of a pet and they don’t require as much space as other breeds of chickens.”

The more you handle chickens, the friendlier they are, she said.

“We have a Buff Orpington rooster. When my daughter comes home from work in the evening, he follows her around until she picks him up.”

According to thebackyardchickenfarmer.com, certain breeds are more tolerant of the hot and humid weather in Florida. Larger combs and wattles, plus lighter, less dense feathers, allow for better air circulation and help keep them cool. Besides needing ventilation and plenty of fresh, clean water, heat-tolerant chickens typically seek out shade and sometimes dig shallow pits in the ground so they can lay on cooler soil during the hottest parts of the day.

The top breeds of chickens recommended for places like Florida include Rhode Island Red, Leghorn, Orpington, Plymouth Rock, and Brahma.

The downside of having backyard chickens is the cost of building a coop, fencing, feed, and the chickens themselves. It may be less costly to simply buy your eggs at a supermarket. Also, chickens can carry harmful germs that cause health issues, ranging from skin infections to more serious illnesses, the website stated.

Mali and Jay Payne’s Little Cluckers business tends to feature more hens than roosters because most of their clients live in residential areas.

Mali Payne has a long history in avian care. She said she earned a bachelor’s degree in avian biology and previously ran an avian vaccine lab at Charles River Laboratories in Connecticut. These days she grows chickens for other people.

“I switched because I got sick and couldn’t work,” she said. “I just needed something to do. It’s more of a hobby for me. I’m not really making money on it.”

Mali buys fertilized eggs and hatches them in an incubator. She grows the chicks in a brooder, which gives them a safe place that can be set to a certain temperature. When they’re 6 weeks old, they’re moved outside to a coop, and by the time they are 5 months old, they’ve doubled in size, she said.

“I’m raising them for other people to have a good quality chicken,” she said. “Most buyers live in residential areas. That’s why I focus more on hens. If you don’t want the males to fight, you’ve got to have 10 females.”

Payne spends time with her customers and gives them tips regarding the care and feeding of their chickens. There are just a few things to look for, she notes.

“They’re susceptible to parasites,” Payne said. “Always do parasite prevention and make sure you clean up after them often. There are products you can put around the coop as a preventative. And, when they’re roosting at night, it’s good to go in and pick them up. You know what they’re supposed to feel like. The first sign that a chicken isn’t doing well they typically lose weight.”

While most people acquire their chickens by going out and buying baby chicks, Rose and Mike Lee didn’t have to leave home to get theirs.

“One day a black chicken showed up in our yard,” Rose Lee said. “It just came to us. We started giving it food and Mike made a box for it to go into on our porch. She started laying eggs. We named her Isabelle.”

Sadly, the Lees came home one day to find Isabelle had been hit by a car. But word must have gotten around the chicken community, because the next day, a red hen showed up at their front door.

The Lees’ grandson, Max Minni, then 9 years old, named the new addition Princess Leian-egg.

“That chicken was awesome,” said Rose. “She would sit up on our air conditioner unit and look through the kitchen window, watching us.”

Mike constructed a coop with a nice perch. Princess Leian-egg immediately started laying two medium to large brown eggs every day. To enhance egg production, Rose did some research and started mixing broken oyster shells and chopped vegetables in with laying mash.

“I would shake the bag of vegetables, and she’d come running,” she said.

Sadly, Princess Leian-egg’s life was cut short when a raccoon tore down a barrier of cinderblocks, got inside the coop, and killed her.

To this day Rose doesn’t know why her property attracted two full-grown chickens.

“I don’t know where they came from,” she said. “Maybe they fell off a chicken truck.”

CHICKEN FACTS

Chickens have memories and can recognize faces and other animals.

Chickens form complex social structures within their flock.

Chickens have full color vision and can see better than humans.

Chickens have REM (rapid eye movement) which signifies they dream.

Chickens are the closest living relatives to a Tyrannosaurus-Rex.

Chickens can travel up to 9 miles per hour.

Chickens can fly.

Source: farmcrediteast.com