Gus and His Chicken Farm

by Johanna Schmidt

Gus, like many kids, enjoys having pets. What's a little different about Gus’ pets is that six of them are chickens! Gus named them all: Feather King, Darkness, Moonlight, Baby Duck, Dots, and Buttercup. Six-year-old Gus and his moms, Janine and Lisa, adopted them last fall when a friend moved from her hobby farm. Gus’ family was happy to give them a home where they have a large coop to lay eggs and plenty of room to roam around. The hens do, however, have to share the large backyard with two dogs. How well do the hens and the dogs get along?

“Bad!” Gus says. Luckily, there's plenty of room for all, that is, as long as the dogs are on their leashes. Gus does his best to keep the peace between the hens and the dogs. Once, though, one of the hens almost left for good. It all started when Sunny, the spunkier dog, escaped from the house.

“She wasn't on her leash, so she went right to the chicken coop, and Baby Duck flew right over the fence into the neighbor's yard.” Luckily, Gus and his moms coaxed Baby Duck home once Sunny was tied up on the other side of the yard where she belonged.

Gus likes to help out with the chickens by feeding them corn feed and table scraps. He also waters them, picks them up a lot, and, of course, he checks for eggs. Chickens usually lay one egg every 24 to 36 hours, so there are three to six per day to look for. Gus runs into the coop and comes out with a freshly laid egg.

“Yeah, a blue one!” he says. Gus knows Buttercup laid this one, since all the others lay whitish-yellowish eggs.

Gus has also gotten to show other kids how much fun it is to care for chickens.

“They think the hens are pretty cool,” he says. At this point, there aren't enough eggs to share or sell to others. Gus usually eats eggs for breakfast, and he and his moms use the rest throughout the day. However, Gus will soon collect more eggs each day, as the family has plans to pick out four new chicks. Two of Gus' friends will co-own two of the chicks, but they will still live with the rest of the chickens.

Four more chicks means more responsibility for Gus, but he doesn't seem worried. He's hoping to still have time to earn money working with his mom Janine at a coffee shop, play the Wii, draw, swim, and watch planes fly over his home. He also climbs trees to check on the animals that live around the hens and dogs.