How 4 fussy, French chickens came to live in my Texas Hill Country backyard.
The pandemic became official during my daughter’s spring break. The teachers were away, hopefully getting some much needed R+R. The halls were quiet and classrooms empty. Seemingly insignificant details like freshly laid eggs in the school’s chicken coop went unnoticed. Well almost. Unbeknownst to everyone else, a student volunteering in the school garden decided to place the eggs in an incubator and then promptly forgot about them. Et voila, cute baby chicks! This left the school with a surplus of chickens and Ms. Lim, the life science teacher with the unexpected task of caring for newly hatched chicks, as well as several baby bunnies…but that’s another story.
Maybe it was being quarantined in the pandemic or childhood nostalgia, but when we heard there were chickens up for adoption, it sounded like a brilliant idea. Here we were, finally at home as a family. The world around us had come to a stop and all we could do was wait for it to start spinning again. We’d already started the garden, so why not bring the gardening and composting full circle? In my mind, chickens (obviously) were the next logical step. Except according to my husband they weren’t, but by then it was too late. I was already googling chicken coops, researching feeding requirements and imagining fun chicken names. Needless to say, between me and my daughter’s chicken fever, the poor guy never had a chance.
Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones with this brilliant idea. As you may have heard, backyard chickens quickly became one of the most popular ideas during the initial months of the pandemic. All over the nation there was a run on chicken coops as people rushed to recreate the fresh egg section at Whole Foods in their backyards. Consequently we had to wait a few extra months for our coop to arrive, so it was mid-summer before we got to meet “the girls”. We originally planned for 2 (small) chickens, but then we heard it was better to have at least 3. More consistent egg laying right?
My daughter and I had already chosen names for each of the hens, plus our coop company of choice, Roost and Root offered free engraving, which meant we even got to name the coop! All this naming was the chance of a lifetime and I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity.
See I’ve been in love with the French language ever since my sophomore year in high school. Although far from fluent, I still have an extreme fondness for my memories of Madame Blanc’s high school classes and over the years I’ve cultivated a serious affinity for French jazz, not to mention Emily in Paris. So when we had the opportunity to name our coop, Maison des Poullettes was the obvious choice. And of course a French themed coop deserves French chickens, mais oui?
The day finally arrived and we were so excited. The family summer trip had been cancelled, so this really was the highlight of our staycation. Ms. Lim graciously offered us a door-to-door chicken delivery, which was much appreciated as none of us felt qualified to transport live poultry. As she unpacked the girls and we admired their beautiful plumage, we had a surprise. A fourth chicken!
Of course, Ms. Lim said we didn’t have to keep it. She explained all the girls had very distinct personalities and she encouraged us to get to know them, then select the 3 that would stay. Um yeah right. It took all of 15 seconds for my daughter to name the tagalong. And that’s how Rosalie, Clementina, Celestina and Pulcherie came to live at Maison des Poulettes.
Which is the same day I started my search for chicken boots.