If so, then we've been tossed violently, head first into homesteading here in Madagascar. Maybe not as primitively as our neighbors around us, but we certainly have our own chickens and we're on day 5 of absolutely no water (like, take-a-bucket-to-the-water-station-like-the-locals no water). That's another rant for another time; it's these chickens I want to focus on right now.
They've been quite the experience, particularly for us city folk. Last January, my brother built us a chicken coop because by this time, after living in Ft Dauphin for just 6 months, we had received a slew of birds and goats from the various villages Chandler was visiting. We had seriously considered keeping a goat, but after a few rounds with Alastor, we realized by the time they got used to each other, one would be dead. So, we were giving most of the animals away, but decided to try our hand at chicken raising (is there a more technical term for that?).
We had no idea what we were in for when Waverly was given her very own chicken on a visit to Ihodo just a few months later. She named her Huberta, but changed her name to Sophia the First. She was fun to watch, but she looked awfully lonely in that coop by herself.
I had read or heard somewhere that chickens will lay eggs when in community with other chickens, so I convinced Chandler to buy another chicken. Well, Sophia still wasn't laying eggs and she and Amber, the second chicken, were not getting along. During our month vacation in the States, our first chicken killed the second and I learned a harsh lesson about "pecking order".
By this point, Chandler swore off chickens. They may have been entertaining for a hot minute, but they were just useless, pains in the butt. I only sort of agreed, still embracing this whole "homesteading" idea.
Then in June, our chicken raising hit an all-time high: two baby chicks wandered under our gate and into our yard. I remember hearing their little cheeps and holding my breath, hoping Alastor didn't hear the same thing. One day, they just never left. So, we set out on a chicken chase around the yard and the chicks ended up in our coop with Sophia.
Shortly thereafter, while Chandler was on a bush trip, I woke up to a rooster crowing and knew immediately that it was inside our compound. Sure enough, we had inherited a rooster. Chandler was going to be SO MAD! All I could do was laugh. We went from swearing off chickens to having a little family all in one felled swoop.
And we still had no idea what we were doing.
Finally, I started collecting an egg a day from Jean Claude and promptly putting them in the refrigerator. Because that's what we do, right? Us, homesteaders, eating what we raise.
WRONG! Unbeknownst to me at that time, Jean Claude had plans to hatch our first set of chicks. We'll just chalk that up to "lost in translation". Literally. He was not happy when he asked for the six eggs back and they were all cold. I think I got a stern talking-to, but how would I know; the shaking of his head was reprimand enough. Needless to say, those eggs didn't hatch and were actually stolen by a substitute night guard while we were in South Africa for a conference.
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Then, it seems for good measure, our day guard snuck another hen into the flock; one that belongs to his daughter. Again with the "pecking order", but now with the rooster and chicken wire to keep the hens separated, there were no more battles to the death.
A couple of weeks ago, the second batch of eggs hatched into 13 of the cutest baby chicks!
So.. how do we "homestead" when it comes to raising chickens? Well, truthfully, we don't. Jean Claude handles it all: buying the appropriate feed for the varying life stages, preparing a nest for Sophia's eggs, preparing those eggs to be hatched, building a new coop for the hen and her chicks. It's pretty much the easiest under-taking we've ever had! As for the future of these chickens... I don't even know.
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