A Chicken Math Story

I wasn’t familiar with chicken math the day we brought home our first flock years ago.  I would soon find out it was not an easy thing to avoid. If you are not familiar with chicken math, let me explain. 

The following story may or may not be a true story. 

How to buy a chicken

What is chicken math? It’s that time you went to your local feed store to get dog food or goat food, with no intention of bringing home any live animals. But, then you see the fuzzy little peep peeps. You try to walk by, but the urge to “just look” is too strong. You just look at the tiny peepers pecking their feed with their little beaks. Then you see some over in the corner of the brooder huddling together in a little nappy time heap and you notice the sign above their brooder that says, “These Peeps Need You”. In reality, it doesn’t read any of those words but at this point, you are too far gone and you are involuntarily adding a bag of chick grower, a brooder lamp, a and waterer into your shopping cart. 

After the store staff has packed up your 5 little chicks into the carrying box you’re beaming with joy and only the other 3 people ahead of you in line with their own box of chicks know how excited you truly are. 

You hear the chickie babies peeping all the way home and you can’t wait to set up their brooder and cuddle with each one and you start thinking of their names.  

After you’ve set up the brooder, cuddled with, and introduced yourself to each one, you realize you have forgotten a feeder to put the feed into.

You hop into your car to make a quick trip back to the feed store.  Walking quickly toward the rack that holds the feeders and with no intention of taking home any live animals, you hear the “Peep, Peep” of the last 2 chickies in the brooder. Of course, the sign still reads “These Peeps Need You”. Beaming with joy and satisfaction that you “saved” the last two chicks you head home to reunite your peeps. And that my friend is chicken math.

Chicken math stories vary but the outcome is always the same. You end up with more chickens than you intended but you are completely happy with your decision. 

Do you have a chicken math story?! would love to hear your story.  Please click below to send me a comment. 

Mona Weathers 

Woman with a chicken.
Me with my chicken, Garden.

 

Links: 

Chickens on the Homestead

Mona on Instagram @farmer_mona