What the cluck? It’s a chickenpalooza!

When Kegan turned 16 he asked that his birthday gift be a chicken coop and four hens. Eric and Kegan built a coop out at the edge of the yard, we bought four chicks from a lady who sold them out of her husband’s auto repair shop, and set about raising chickens. We had one major mishap when the family dog, Athena Louise, mistook the small chickens for playthings. Three of the four went to chicken heaven and had to be replaced with fresh meat.

That was last summer. This summer we have the same four hens – Ginger, Lucky, Quiche and Lucille – and a dog who’s learned to play gently with her feathered friends. Two chickens eat out of our hands. One chicken will jump five feet off the ground to snatch snacks from my hand. They eat most of our chicken scraps so we refer to them as our household composters. All four chickens come running to the back stoop as soon as they hear the back door open. And if you’ve ever seen a chicken run, you know how this can’t help but put a smile on my face every morning. The four eggs they lay each day are really just icing on the cake.

When friends learn we have hens they want to come over to meet them. Kids love our girls and our girls love anyone who hits the yard with a treat in hand (they’re partial to Fruit Loops, but will eat Doritos in a pinch). Visitors usually have plenty of questions: What do they eat? Everything. How many eggs do they lay every day? One each. Do those eggs turn into baby chicks if you leave them in the coop long enough? No, but they will turn into rotten eggs if you leave them long enough. Are they noisy? Every once in a while, in a good, happy way. Why doesn’t the dog eat them? She’s a very good dog. Will you eat them? Absolutely not.

Sometimes we don’t have the answers. That’s when I hit a local farmer’s market to ask one of the pros why my hens haven’t dropped an egg in five days. Or why their feathers are looking all nappy. Or why they’re drinking so dang much water all of a sudden.

Tomorrow I’m going to go where all things chicken will be celebrated – The 2010 Chicken Festival – to see if I can pick up a few new ideas to make my hens even happier than they already are. The event takes place behind One World Café, on Pittsburgh and First, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s free and part of Sustainable September Spokane , a month-long concentrated effort to help our community become more healthy, vibrant and clean. The Chicken Festival is just one of many fun and educational things taking place this month. There’s also a Main Street Fair tomorrow, Green Drinks on Tuesday, the Spokane River Cleanup on the 25th an ongoing film series and plenty of other super cool stuff that’ll inspire you to think about the way you use our planet. Maybe you’ll choose to get a coop of your own. Or maybe you’ll finally remember to bring your reusable grocery bags into the store when you shop. You might feel inspired to start riding your bike, or the bus, instead of hopping into your car every time you need to go somewhere. Or maybe you’ll just have a really good meal made from fresh, local ingredients. Little changes can add up to a huge difference, so I hope to see you at the Festival tomorrow, and at some of the other awesome events in the coming weeks.

Cluck here for a full Sustainable September Spokane calendar and more information.