The Arcadia Chickens!

 Arcadia recently received a wonderful new addition to the farm: chickens!  

Paint covered grass ready to go in the dumpster!

 It took a couple of weeks to build the new chicken house, paint it, and set up fencing.  It looks lovely, despite some minor mishaps during the painting stage.  One day, I was trying to help Farmer Mo finish painting the trim on the newly built house just as it began to rain.  In our hurry to get it finished, the can of paint got knocked over and paint poured all over the grass.  If the paint were to leach into the soil, its chemicals would be harmful for both the grass and the chickens who would soon be living there, pecking that grass, and eating the bugs living in that soil.  After some quick thinking, we ended up digging out the patch of grass and the paint and throwing it in the dumpster, just as it began to rain. It was a ridiculous sight!

But despite our clumsiness, the coop now looks great, and after much anticipation from all of us at the farm (especially the interns), our wonderful hens arrived two weeks ago from Moutoux Orchards!  They are beautiful, colorful, and friendly and are laying plenty of eggs.

The lovely ladies (as we call them) were also a huge hit during the first Arcadia  field trip last week.  Most of the kids from the Lab School had seen chickens before, but they were still thrilled to watch and pet the birds.  Some kids even got to see some eggs!  Stephanie and I taught the field trippers all about chickens: how they are raised and why they are so important on a sustainable farm like Arcadia!  Unsurprisingly, poop was a popular topic--the kids were particularly interested in the fact that the hens' manure is so good for our crops. 

Overall, the arrival of our chickens--and their squawking--has been very exciting!