TYLER FEEDS THE CHICKENS CORN ON THE COB,
HHeather’s Chicks
WHICH IS ONE OF THEIR FAVORITES.
Heather Horak has created
a lifestyle surrounding her
chickens. They are more
than just animals; they’re her pets.
They have become the center of enter-tainment
for her four-year-old girl
and six-year-old boy.
Her eight chickens, many named
by her youngest daughter, produce an
abundant amount of eggs that she uses
to cook everything from hard-boiled
eggs to cheesecake. She houses her
fine-feathered friends in a homemade
coop in her backyard.
“The supplies for my coop were
either donated to me or I found
people giving away hardware scraps
on craigslist,” Horak says.
Her love for chickens started as a
child growing up in Amityville, Long
Island. Her parents started out with a
few chickens for fun and her love of
them skyrocketed from there.
Ramsey, a black Australorp chicken,
is the leader of the peep and the oldest
chicken in the coop. Ramsey is quite
the social butterfly, allowing Horak to
stroke her feathers without the slightest
bit of flinching. Bawk Bawk, an Easter
Egger, lays eggs so blue they could be
painted. With such a wide variety of
chickens in her coop, there is no short-age
of egg production.
“The younger the chickens are, the
smaller their eggs are, but the more fre-quent
they produce. The older chickens
78
WBM august 2012
have a slower egg production; however,
their eggs are bigger,” Horak says.
When Horak has more than she
needs, she takes to the bartering and
trade field. She trades her eggs with
neighbors or friends, for food or
other services.
“I traded a dozen eggs for my son’s
first haircut,” Horak says. “My neighbor
has a boat and goes fishing a lot. I
trade my eggs for some of his freshly
caught fish.”
Like goats, chickens are pantopha-gous
— they’ll eat anything. Horak uses
her pets as environmentally friendly
compost machines by feeding them the
scraps from her table. Horak’s chickens
especially enjoy crab legs and vegetables.
—
Barrie Cohen