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A few years ago, I read a book called Robbing the Bees. The author, Holley Bishop, moved out to the country from New York City, got hooked on bees, and became a beekeeper. Then she wrote about her experience and all kinds of other fascinating bee lore. You'd love it. How did you end up having dozens of chickens, Orren?
Well, I was so interested in chickens that I did a year's worth of research for my [5th grade] project and because I was so interested, I spent a year volunteering at a barn, so I could see how much work it was and see it first-hand. After having spent a year learning and proving myself, Julie said that I should consider building a coop and getting some chicks! Which I did. Essentially, every spring I get new chicks. I have some gorgeous Blue Cochins, Bantam Cochins (my dear sweet Cocoa just died. I buried her with a piece of chocolate cake for her travels), Brahmas, Americanas, Black Giants, etc. I am now very interested in getting Mille Fleurs. Actually now I have 26 hens, three call ducks from the Animal Rescue in our town, and one handsome Mandarin duck.
I'm sorry about Cocoa. How do you come up with names for all the chicks? And how do you decide what kinds to get?
I don't really know how I name the chicks. I look at them and I think I just see their name. I do think it is funny that many of my birds are named after food, considering I won't eat my birds - Cheesecake, Blueberry, Peach, Sugar, etc.
I choose what type of birds to get by looking at the American Poultry Association's book The Standard of Perfection. I have a poster in my room of all the types of birds and I just look at it over and over, trying to decide. Honestly, it also is dependent on what's available.
Where do you get the chicks from, once you pick out the kind you like? Online?
Once I decide which kind of hens I would like, I begin to see who might have them. At first, however, I started by getting my hens at the local feed store. The guys there were really helpful and taught me a lot. They had a very small selection of breeds, mostly the more durable egg layers, not the heritage breeds. As time went on, I became more and more interested in the heritage breed birds. (A heritage breed bird is an original bird, it hasn't been bred with another breed. Heritage birds are like heirloom tomatoes.)
So I have gotten my birds from all sorts of places, the local feed store, by mail (but I'm not sure I think this is such a great thing for little birds), a local breeder, and the Animal Rescue person.
How did you build a relationship with Animal Rescue?
The town where the barn is has quite a few barns and farms. Often, there are animals that people can no longer take care of and they call Animal Rescue. A few times when they have received birds, they stopped by the barn to see if I am interested in adopting the birds. On a few occasions, I have taken them in. The birds I have from AR [Animal Rescue] are three sweet Call Ducks. One of the males is currently a little injured. I think he hurt his leg. I took him to the vet and we have him in a cozy dog carrier with tons of shavings to help him heal. I might take him back to the vet this week so she can check him out. Oddly, he used to be really bossy, now he sits quietly in my lap as I try and help his leg. I think he knows I am trying to help him. I have been giving him some extra mazuri (food specifically for ducks with just the right mix of nutrition for them).
Let's take a break. When we return, Orren will talk about his vegetable gardening, school, and what else he's up to. Please join us.
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Part Two of my interview with Orren
Do not reprint this article without express permission from the author.
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