Several of my friends have been inquiring about our small flock of chickens. It is a bit more complicated now that there are three different age groups of these girls. Yes, girls are the only chickens in our feathered family. We have no roosters.

A few years ago my wife, Lyn, started our chicken family when she purchased three young hens and a mobile chicken house and fenced in area for them to reside. As the girls matured it seemed that they were running out of space so some adjustments were made and they took over one of our outside sheds. Some months later a new storage building was constructed.

Shortly after that one of our hens got sick and died In February we bought four more young chickens, which lived in our garage during the winter. As they matured we discovered that one of them was a rooster.

We thought it was a good idea to see if we could find him a new home. Charlie now resides out on the Westside and is part of a much larger and growing population of chickens owned and taken care of by a church. Lyn has checked on Charlie a couple of times. We were given a new baby chicken to replace Charlie.

We felt that our one young bird would be lonesome living by herself until she was full grown, so we purchased one more to grow up with her. Now the older five chickens reside in the building. The two younger ones are still living in the mobile unit. They all seem to be getting along pretty well when they are allowed out in the yard.

We have started getting eggs from one or two of the girls that moved in with us in February. One day last week Lyn carried in five eggs at one time. I found four eggs during my Saturday morning visit to the chicken house. It’s fun when we have time to sit outside and let the girls roam around the yard. They are good friends with Stuart (our dog) and Guessie (the neighborhood cat).

This weekend, Lyn leaves on her third missions trip to Ecuador. She will be traveling again with a group and they will visit the same area of Ecuador and reconnect with the same families. Unfortunately, the two-week trip is again being held during the first two weeks of July.

Stuart has become really afraid of thunder and fireworks. He normally goes to Lyn for comfort when he hears loud noises. I’ve learned that if Stuart and I drive to Columbus and back on the Fourth of July, he misses out on most of the fireworks. I play the radio loudly and Stuart curls up in the seat.

​I’ll be living in what I call “camp conditions” while Lyn is gone. I’ll be the sole human in charge of the house, the yard, a dog, a cat and seven chickens. Stuart and I will be at the airport to meet Lyn and her group when they return July 14. Because of Stuart’s therapy dog status, he is allowed to enter the airport.