They’re No Spring Chickens! No wait…

This is the surest sign of Spring that has ever existed. Some people may claim it’s the daffodils – but for me it’s the arrival of the annual “shipment o’ chickens” at our pet food store. They’re not sold as pet food, mind you – or even as pets. They’re sold as livestock to people who live OUTSIDE the city limits because it is against city ordinances to keep chickens within the city limits.

I’ve looked into it.

Because every year I see these chickens arrive, I watch them grow at the store for a few weeks, and then they’re gone – picked up by their rightful owners who ordered them ahead of time so that the exact number of chickens that are needed arrive in the Spring.

When I stopped in today for non-chicken related supplies (damn it) they were actually sorting and counting the chicks to make sure they received enough of each variety to fill everyone’s orders. These little yellow ones are one variety and the largest of the population, and the employees had separated two other types into two boxes so they could be counted. It was really amusing watching high school kids try to count boxes full of little chickens that are jumping and climbing all over each other. I asked “Why didn’t you count them as you put them into the box?” expecting to hear a very obvious reason why that tactic wouldn’t work, and they just stared at me for a minute then said “Oh yeaaaaah.”

I guess that’s the sort of wisdom that comes with adulthood.

Then I joked “They don’t COME in a box like that, do they?” – but THEY DO. She said they come about 50 chicks to a box. Not via the US Postal Service, they’re delivered by “the chicken guy” (amazingly creative business name!)

Now I have added “Open box full of baby chickens” to my Bucket List.