A Vacation Away From the Squawk Flock

Michigan schools give their students a midwinter break around the middle of February. Since this winter has been pretty intense with the snow and the cold, our family decided to take a trip to the Kansas City Great Wolf Lodge during the kids' midwinter break...a chance to get away from Michigan for a couple days.

We had a blast at Kansas City!

Although it's not a huge touristy destination, we still found lots of things to do between the two-state city and it was much warmer than Michigan. The boys got to eat good barbecue burnt ends and huge chicken wings at every meal. We found a very cool Science Museum at the Union Station with lots of hands-on experiments. My dainty, little girl found a slime lab where she could play with all types of colorful, glittery slime and get covered from head to toe with bright pink gunk. I found a place to watch how marbles are made by hand by a sweet, old man from New Jersey, and the kids learned how to play with marbles for the first time. And my super football fan, my youngest son, got to see the Kansas City Chief Stadium up close and personal, even though he is a die-hard Lion's fan.

It was a very enjoyable vacation, but just like every time I have to leave the Squawk Flock, I worry about my feathered friends when I leave the farm. Since my chickens free range around my yard, there is always a chance that I'll have a hawk attack or have another possum or raccoon get stuck inside the coop while I'm gone which would result in some of the hens getting hurt of dying. But, chickens will be stalked by predators while I'm here in Michigan or anywhere else, so I've had to accept this reality has a free range chicken farmer and trust my roosters to be my security guards while I'm away.

I'll have to write a post at another time on the pros and cons of free range chickens vs. chickens in cages. There are several reasons why I choose for my girls to free range.

We came back to Michigan yesterday, and after I inspected the coop, not only was all the chickens alive and healthy, but they laid over four dozen eggs for me to collect! I couldn't believe it...I almost needed two baskets to fit all the eggs I discovered! They must have been a little upset I had been gone, because they laid their eggs ALL OVER THE COOP, hiding them in places they have never hid them before. It took me much longer to discover all the hidden eggs, but I was so glad to see my girls that I didn't mind.

One of the many reasons I love having chickens is that they are extremely low maintenance. They are able to take care of themselves without constant care. Even when I'm gone for a couple days, they can still function without daily care because of their natural instincts. They leave the coop with the sun rises and return to the coop with the sun sets. They hide from predators under bushes and tress. They know where to lay their eggs (unless they are mad at their farmer for leaving, haha). They can forage for food and water outside, especially when the weather is above freezing (which thankfully it was above freezing this week).

When people tell me that it's too hard to have chickens, it doesn't have to be. Chickens, like most outside animals, are great a surviving on their own. Plus, chickens give the added benefit of providing families with farm fresh eggs all year around. The benefits greatly outweigh the risks.

Thanks for reading my Country Squawk,

Kelly