They wanted their children to learn that food doesn't come in neat packages and decided to raise chickens. Looking after the hens has become a family affair for Charles Robichaud, Elizabeth Pechlaner and their two children, Lucy and Noah, who share the tasks of feeding the hens, collecting eggs and putting fresh sawdust in nest boxes.
They also believe that there are health benefits from being around animals. "Kids who are exposed to dander and dust are less likely to develop asthma when they get older," Robichaud explained. "And we hope that they are more appreciative of food, knowing where it comes from."
The family's home is located on a quiet cul-de-sac on a five-acre property, bordered by forest and farmland. After a bit of research, the family decided to raise heritage breeds. Five years ago, they got 16 hens. Today, they have 32 chickens: Marans, Wellsummers, Sussex, Wyandotte and Auracane. Their eggs are green, blue, light brown, dark brown and speckled in appearance. "We crossed a brown egg layer with blue egg layer and now we get those nice khaki-coloured eggs," Robichaud says. "Heritage breeds lay about an egg every second day. If you want a dozen eggs a week, you need four hens."
Anyone who is looking to get chickens that are friendly and not skittish should not choose hens that lay white eggs, according to Robichaud. But with friendly chickens he has found that it is harder to stay unattached, something he's told his children about, discouraging them from giving the birds pet names.
"We want the children to see the hens as farm animals rather than pets," he says, but adds that he knows it is hard. "Some of them are quite beautiful to look at and some, especially the Sussex hens, are very friendly toward people." A coop was built and the idea was to let the chickens run free during the day and take them in by sun-down. "The reason we keep them free-range is because they pick up good anti-oxidants by eating green grass," Robichaud says. "These nutrients are passed on through the eggs and make them extra tasty." He explains that they often gift their eggs to friends and colleagues who say they really love them.
"One colleague has a friend who is on chemo and whose taste buds are deadened," Robichaud says. "She served him one of our eggs and even he commented on how tasty they were."
But soon the family found that having the chicken in the yard unsupervised didn't work. "We can't leave them outside without us or the dogs being there because the eagles, hawks and ravens will get them," Robichaud said, adding that he once witnessed a hawk grabbing a chicken. He ran out of the house and was able to chase the hawk off.
Robichaud built a chicken run next to the coop for the times when the family wasn't there to keep an eye out for predators. One day, the chickens were safely in the run but the dogs started barking inside the house. "I thought an eagle had somehow gotten into the chicken run," Robichaud recalls. "I threw on my rubber boots and yelled at [my dog] Daisy to 'go get them.'" The dog took off into a different direction and Robichaud hurried into the chicken run. "I was looking up to see where hole in the wire was. Then I brought my eyes down and no more than 10 feet away from me was the biggest black bear I had ever seen, separated only by the thin wire of the chicken run," he says. "I thought he must be looking at me like a cupcake in the bakery window. He was standing on his back legs and his head was tilted with the nose in the air." Robichaud shouted and tried to make himself appear bigger by waving his arms in the air and eventually, the bear seemed to get bored. He got down on all fours and ambled off into the woods. "That's when Daisy showed up and ran after him," he said. At that time, no harm befell the chickens but two years before that incident, another bear killed a number of them.
One of the good things about having chickens is that they don't require much maintenance, according to Robichaud, who often works long hours. "They are easy to raise but I wouldn't recommend having roosters who are sometimes very aggressive, especially to women and girls," he said, recalling a time when Elizabeth had to defend herself with a garbage can lid.
"We have almost no compost because we feed the kitchen peelings to the chickens. It adds variety and interest to their diet," Robichaud says. "They especially love the loose tea leaves from our morning tea. But you can't get away from the fact that chicken poop does stink. The benefit is that you have great manure for your garden." In addition to encouraging the children to help with the chores, Robichaud says he enjoys taking them into the coop just to stand there and listen to the chickens make their satisfied clucking and cooing sounds. "It's actually quite relaxing," he says.
It is a good time to get chickens, according to Robichaud, who says, "Interest in heritage breed is exploding. There are a lot of people in the Fraser Valley who breed exotic stocks and selling chicks this time of year. Anyone who wants to raise their own chickens will need about one square metre per bird in a coop. And basic carpentry skills will give chickens all the shelter they need in this climate."
