And then there were none....

I didn't realize how much the chickens had become a part of my daily routine; every time I open the kitchen door, I can hear them "purr" to let me know "Hey lady. We want out!" They get louder as you get closer to the coop and they literally bum-rush you when you open the door. They know the sound of the sliders and come running. The 'tsk-tsk' noise we use to call Knowledge, Jay's cat, also summons the chickens.

I knew when we got them, we wouldn't be keeping them forever. It was more like a science experiment; what's it like to have chickens? 

Well, it was pretty awesome. 

I know we made some memories and we'll always be able to say, 'Remember when we had chickens??' 

From little baby chicks to full-blown egg-layers, it was a interesting adventure, to say the least. I have a feeling I will forever be known as The Chicken Lady in this neighborhood; it's hard to avoid a title like this when you have to carry your escapee chickens out of your neighbor's front lawn...several times. 

While I'm sad we have to close the Chicken Chapter, I'm glad we got to open it at all. 

What happened? you ask. Well, with the pending move (to a townhouse) we realized that we definitely couldn't take the chickens with us. So Thursday, I posted an ad on Craig's List and just a few hours later, had my first response. I thought she was going to flake yesterday when she wasn't here between 1-2 PM like we agreed but she finally called 20 minutes after two and said they were on the way.

She & her husband picked up the girls and took them back to Grass Valley to join the five hens they already have. Since they didn't need the coop, I sold that to another family as a "Starter Kit". For $100, they got a good-size coop, a full bag of shavings, a half-bag of laying feed, a waterer, two feeders and the infra-red lamp for brooding. A good deal, if I do say so myself. 

It was weird to walk around & not see the chickens running around; I love that I don't have to worry about my toes being bitten but still...I miss them.

No more 'purring' when I come outside or go to the garage. No more chasing them through the neighbors' yards. No more eggs. 

When this Townhouse/No Chicken Chapter is done & over with, it's our dream to have enough money saved to buy a chunk of land with or without a house on it. Then we can get our chickens going again. And some Pygora goats. And a horse or two. 

We'll call it Murphitropolis and it will be awesome. Until then, I'm back to being a regular ol' city girl; no longer an Urban Farmer with a mission to teach her children the joys of being self-reliant, I'm just another stay-at-home mom (but that's enough for me).