Kids
Harry Rede: Chicken Connoisseur
The backyard of the Rede residence is quite possibly the epitome of a chicken’s dream. It includes a homemade wood house where chickens are kept insulated from the cold Minnesota winters, paired with a lawn full of luscious grass for roaming free during the hot summer days, and a swing set to learn new acrobatic moves. All of this makes up what the four Rede chickens call their own paradise.
The true ringleader of this group, however, is Harry Rede. After bringing up the idea of owning chickens as pets to his moms, Laura and Marcy Rede tossed around the idea until finally giving in, adopting Barred Rock Hen Trudy, Daisy, Gloria, and Flora (who is also known as Tuto). Being the chicken enthusiast that he is, Harry filled me in on all I needed to know, adding in a couple of funny chicken stories that continue to put smiles on the Redes’ faces.
When asked what Harry loved most about his chickens, he enthusiastically says: “Two lay green eggs!” These two chickens are Gloria and Tuto, who are both Araucana chickens, a breed that is known to lay green-bluish eggs. Harry also added that all four chickens are hens, and that you do not need a rooster for a hen to lay eggs. In fact, all lay eggs daily, but they are not fertilized eggs, so they will not become baby chicks.
It seems with all this activity that Harry would have a list full of daily chores; however, his main job is to collect the freshly laid eggs that usually occurs in the morning after the hens seem particularly talkative, which Harry translates as, “I laid an egg! I laid an egg!” As for cleaning the coop, Harry’s moms split up the duties of keeping the food filled, cleaning the water out daily, and restocking the coop necessities.
You might also wonder if pet chickens eat differently than farm chickens, and the answer is yes. Although they do eat the usual diet of “bugs, corn, scratch—which are special grains for treats—berries, grit to help digestion and oyster shells, which have calcium to make good eggs,” they also enjoy a few human treats, such as “Piccolini pasta mini wheels, apples, and bread coated in butter.” This also adds an aspect Harry likes least about his chickens: in addition to pecking at Harry’s toes when he doesn’t wear shoes outside, “they steal food off the table.”
An issue some families worry about when buying chickens is if their neighbors will mind; however the Redes do not have this problem. Next door to the Redes lives a baker who enjoys trading their baked goods for eggs—how perfect! However, it becomes a larger ordeal in the neighborhood if you choose to have a rooster because they can wake up as early as 3:30 a.m. to sing the day’s praises, which is not always appreciated by neighbors. The Redes also live in a neighborhood where chickens are highly populated, which is why there is a Coop Tour every September consisting of about 100 people who walk throughout neighborhood backyards to see their neighbors’ chicken coops and decide how to create their own.
Harry also loves his chickens’ comical quirks. Harry tells me that he really enjoys watching the chickens, “bob for apples and corn, which we do mostly in the wintertime,” and he loves when the Araucanas stop and spread their wings as if allowing you to pick them up. He adds that his sister, Miranda, “carries the chickens around in a Red Robin wagon, and Gloria stays put in the wagon the whole time.” Miranda is also considered the chicken whisperer of the family, because she can pick up any chicken with no problem. Miranda loves calling the chickens into the coop because they all hurry to win the prize of a piece of bread. She also enjoys teaching Gloria how to swing.
Harry may be the chicken expert of the family, but the Redes all have really enjoyed having chickens, which, in addition to their massive Great Dane, Zeus, and two fluffy cats, complete their family.
