Upon seeing her newly hatched chicks for the first time, Alice Li (‘23), full of worry and excitement, knew she was in for quite the eggs-perience. Raising chickens is not an easy task, but Li has been able to crack the shell and enjoy her pets’ every fluttering and waddling. 

Li and her family first got their chickens last March, after both Li and her little sister wanted a pet. 

“My sister had this project at school, and they were hatching chickens. They had a lot of chickens, so the teacher asked students to adopt them. Our parents decided why not, since my sister and I both wanted pets,” said Li.

With an awkward jerk in their movements, chickens can seem quite odd or even a bit frightening to people. However, Li enjoys spending time with the foragers. 

“My favorite part about raising chickens would probably just be interacting with them because they’re actually really cute. If you go into the garden, they like following you. Sometimes they will jump into your lap and sit down, so it’s quite cute,” said Li.

However, raising chickens came with its own particular struggles. Li recalls often feeling anxious or frustrated when dealing with her pets. 

“I felt anxious when we first got the chickens because they were tiny. They were super small. They just hatched when we got them, so it was the question of whether they survive or not,” said Li.

Raising feathered pets also comes with consequences if not everything is taken into consideration. To ensure the chickens would be raised in the best conditions, Li and her family set up a coop and feeder with standard seeds. 

“At night (the chickens) go into their coops, and in the morning they just go wherever they want, which is probably not the best idea. The chickens (wander around) free range in the garden, so they ate all the plants and the garden’s now really messy,” said Li.

The avian flu has been affecting chickens for more than a year, first detected in the US in January 2022, so it is fortunate that Li’s chickens have been able to continue with their pecking activities without being scrambled by the infectious disease. 

“Our chickens honestly haven’t been affected that much by the avian flu because they’re in the garden, and there’s only three of them. We also don’t really go to the farm or anything, so there’s no contagious stuff,” said Li.

With the increasing prices of eggs due to the avian flu, Li also finds it a relief that she has been able to harvest fresh eggs in her backyard. 

“It’s definitely a good thing we have our chickens. The egg prices are pretty terrible right now, so we don’t have to buy any eggs. We have four people in our family and three chickens, so that’s enough for our family,” said Li. 

Being able to poach the eggs from the chickens’ nests makes the eggs for Li’s family to be eggs-tra special. 

“I wouldn’t say I taste a difference in the eggs our chickens lay versus the ones bought at the grocery store, but the appearance is different,” said Li. “For our chickens, the yolk of the eggs is more yellow if that makes sense. My mom also says it’s healthier.”

Within Li’s group of friends, some know about her adventures with her chickens and find it both surprising and amusing. 

“It’s pretty interesting that Alice is raising chickens because I never thought that she would. It’s pretty nice raising pets in general. It teaches you a lot about responsibility, and I think chickens are a more interesting type of pet,” said Li’s close friend Joanna Chu (‘23). “Alice is very responsible, and I have heard her talk about how she handles the coop, how she has to clean up after them, collect eggs, and feed them.”

Li’s experience with her chickens has allowed her to acquire quite some knowledge and advice for people that are looking to also raise these feathered pets.

“For those looking to raise chickens, definitely do your research. If you’re getting a super young chicken, like a chick, it’s pretty hard the first couple of weeks because you need the light feeder for that. You should also probably buy from a good breed and know what you want as well as the city’s restrictions,” said Li.

Every day with her chickens is a sunny-side up for Li. As she runs through all the memories of her egg-citing times with her pet chickens, she recalls one of her favorite moments.

“When they were young, they would start chasing each other. Whenever one chicken had something good, everyone chases after that chicken, and it’s like a chase. I’ve never seen anything like it—it’s so cute,” said Li.