Meet My Chickens: the continuing story of Chickenzilla



Homegrown Neighbor here. My chicken Whitey, a.k.a. Chickenzilla, has been laying some wonderful eggs lately. Of course, she is a meat chicken, not a layer. I think of her as a “rescue” chicken. Most meat chickens are harvested between just 7 and 10 weeks of age. At over a year old now, Chickenzilla is likely one of the oldest broiler hens alive.  But she is a surprisingly good layer, with a big, bad-ass personality to match her immense body. When I first got her she only wanted to eat chicken kibble, which is mostly corn. When I let her out in the run she would just sit down and do nothing. She was a perfectly lazy broiler hen– a corporate agribusiness chicken. Eventually the other chickens showed her how good bugs and greens are and she started scratching around in the dirt and eating worms. Now she eats all her greens like a good girl. She has more kale and less corn in her diet these days. And she is very active. Despite her heft she can outrun all the other chickens when I throw a choice grub or beetle into their enclosure. She can even jump/fly the three feet into the compost bin to hunt for good eats. If Chickenzilla can leave her corn-fed agribusiness breeding behind and transform into a homegrown, vegetable loving, free range, compost enthusiast chicken then maybe there is hope for the American food system.

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9 Comments

  1. MMMMMMMM, Chickinzillllllla! Actually I was reading your Rocket stove article and am now lost in homegrown evolution land, and sent the site to everyone…

  2. How beautiful!I so wish I could adopt a few battery hens or commercial meat chickens. It’s great to hear a story of one living happily ever after the way a chicken should. And very interesting that she lays quite well.

  3. What a great story. I got a good chuckle out of the tale of Chickenzilla. They certainly do have their own personalities, for sure.

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