We did too! It was partially coincidence, we'd been talking about getting chickens for a couple years, but at the start of the shutdown we had gone to the feedstock and they happened to have chicks, so we finally got some!
Oh they are AMAZING for mental health and stress relief! I worked from home for 10 weeks during the shutdown, I had no idea how crazy stressed out I had been, I was having headaches and stomach aches every day and thought I had developed a food sensitivity. Nope, just crazy stress! The chicks would hang out with me while I worked, I truly believe the shutdown was a life saver for me, I know it was a terrible time also for many people so I feel a little bad that it was such a relief for me. I changed careers a year later, but in 7 months got a promotion right back into a high stress position, I guess I can't help myself.I have no judgement to make on people culling their chooks - l'm a country girl, well used to helping out with the chicken "harvest" as a child, but we chose to start our own flock a couple of years ago because we wanted to see if they'd make an impact on our fruit fly problem, so eggs were going to be a bonus for us, especially as neighbours on both sides had plenty to spare. So, we're happy to let them live out their full lives, as they are still doing 2/3 of their jobs - insect control and fertilising. And we had no idea of the mental health benefits they would come to provide us. Working from home during Covid, at a very stressful job, I had no colleagues to vent with when things were particularly trying. So I'd make a coffee and go sit with the chickens for a bit. It turns out that not only is chicken soup good for the soul, so are live chickens.
