The Chicken Caper
A couple of weeks ago I tried to buy 3 hens from a chicken farm that is here. It is on the drive from Camp Humphreys to Osan Air Force Base. J.C. and I went with our dogs’ empty kennel in the rear of our hooptie station wagon, so we could transport the birds back to my yard. I was all ready to put up chicken wire and get them a Korean style dog house for them to call home. I borrowed this image off Google Images. This is a small doghouse.
The dog houses are really cute. They are Asian style with red roofs that look like a palace roof that has shingles and sloping curves. But the whole point is the chickens, not the dog house. I desperately want chickens in the worst way. I am completely obsessed. I have wanted them for years. Fresh eggs on the table are a thing of beauty. I even call my kids “Chickens” as a term of endearment. We used to have a game that we played when they were little. I would pretend to be a momma hen and they would pretend to be chicks peeping after me. It worked great to get them to follow me safely through the giant and dangerous parking lot at Walmart. I read blogs about chickens, and browse the web for chicken coup designs. Chickens, chickens, chickens!
The trouble is that I have never lived in a place that has allowed me to keep them. Even when I lived in Missouri, on an acre, there was a covanent that prevented keeping chickens. Now our family is in Korea, and there are no laws against owning chickens here. I really got my hopes up.
But not all the way, thank goodness!
The grand total for preparing a home for 3 hens would have been about $100.00. I even had Hubby saying he didn’t mind me doing this project. I really didn’t care that we have a tiny yard. I was going to carve out space for 3 coveted cluckers.
The chicken farms here keep their birds in quonset huts with all of the birds roaming freely inside. When the weather is hot the farmers roll up the sides and the birds peer curiously outside. They were checking me and JC out as we drove up. The roosters were crowing in alarm.
I had made this pictogram to request the purchase of 3 hens. I even called my all purpose realtor, Janice, to help negotiate the deal in Korean. I dialed her and handed the cell phone over to the farmer.
They refused the deal. They wouldn’t sell even one hen. They would sell a rooster, but that is a noisy, mean and useless proposition. Apparently Korean chicken farmers are very protective of their enterprise. They figured if they sold me the birds, they wouldn’t be able to sell me the eggs. I had gone to some trouble to figure out the Korean from my picture dictionary.
There are all kinds of images in this book to assist in translation. This one was about farming. I got the word for chicken food from this page.
I was pretty dissapointed that they wouldn’t sell me any birds.
Kind of. For now I am borrowing the neighbors chickens. I can hear the roosters crowing when I open the windows of my apartment. When the dog and I go walking we go right by their yard.
part of me wants to keep the dream of chickens wrapped up in the future; My farm; After we go home.
Some things are like that; just more powerful as hope. So for now I will enjoy the neighborhood chickens whenever I am out on a walk. They all look at me. I am noticed. I am here. I will someday get my dreams. Army wives wait a long time for their dreams…..
I love reading about your adventures!
So, did you ever get the chicken book that I sent you?
did you try and buy any chickens from your neighbors small farm instead of going to a commercial farm? i suspect if you take the same pages Janice helped you with to a farm that just has a few chickens you might be successful in getting a few hens.
They have only a few hens and 2 roosters. That is just enough to supply their own household. Oh well. Thanks for the idea though. I hope you are getting adjusted as you move in. Nice to hear from you.
I visited after Jennifer (at http://www.ourjennericlife.com) wrote about your chicken desires. I enjoyed your post and sympathize with your desires. I’m curious, have you ever visited the site http://chickensintheroad.com/blog/ ? It’s fantastic, she has a wonderful working farm (with chickens!) that she is forever adding to. And she writes very practically about the adventure, not uppity at all. Also, can you order little chicks via the mail? I know my parents have done that, in Oregon, but I don’t know if that would work in Korea….just a thought. Thanks for sharing!