Earlier this year, I started researching chickens. I had been thinking about getting them for a while, and naturally, I did what I do whenever I get an idea in my head—I started researching everything. What kind of coop would we need? How much space? What do they eat? What do you put on the floor of the coop? How do you keep them safe? How much work are they, really? Can we even have chickens and roosters where we live.

The more I learned, the more I realized there was a lot I didn’t know. And honestly, I decided I wasn’t ready. There was still so much to learn before I felt comfortable jumping into chicken ownership. So, for the time being, the idea of having chickens went on the back burner.

Then one day this spring, my son sent us a text. Someone he worked with was moving and needed to find homes for their chickens. Would anyone be interested? They were giving them away for free. All we had to do was pick them up the following week.

Free chickens.

Available next week.

It felt a little less like a coincidence and a whole lot more like a sign. Maybe I had been overthinking this. Maybe I didn’t need to know everything before getting started. Maybe I just needed to jump in and figure it out as I went.

So…we said yes.

Of course, saying yes to four chickens meant we actually needed to be ready for four chickens. I immediately started ordering everything we would need—the coop, food and water containers, feed, bedding, nesting supplies, and all the other things we discovered we apparently needed to care for chickens. We ordered it all, put it together, and got everything set up for their arrival.

The following week, we went to pick up our four new girls. And this is where I now realize we probably should have asked a few more questions. At the time, all we really knew was that they were four laying hens. We were told not to get too attached because chickens usually meet their demise by predator, another chicken, or some other unfortunate circumstance.

Well…that didn’t exactly stop me from getting attached. Or naming them. Because if I was going to have four chickens, they might as well have names that suited their new life with us. So, Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia came home with us. Our four Golden Girls.

We brought them home, introduced them to their new surroundings, and put them into what I would soon learn was a very, very small coop. At the time, I thought we were all set. We put four chickens that had been free range chickens into a very tight space.

Our first lesson was pretty simple: the girls needed more room. So we bought them a 7-by-7 run, with their coop tucked inside, giving them plenty of space to scratch, wander, dust bathe, and do all the things chickens apparently need to do.

Free-ranging around our property wasn’t really an option. Between the eagles and hawks overhead, our indoor-outdoor cat, and our dogs, there were just too many potential threats. So the run became their little corner of the world, and we got them settled in.

And then there were the eggs. Four chickens meant four eggs. Every. Single. Day. At first, this seemed pretty exciting. Fresh eggs! We would have more than enough to enjoy ourselves and share with family and friends. Except…the people who said they would happily take our extra eggs didn’t actually seem to want as many eggs as four chickens were willing to provide. Before long, we were swimming in eggs. So we started giving them away, sharing them with people we knew, and even selling some of the extras. I quickly learned that four laying hens can be surprisingly productive little ladies.

And the lessons just kept coming.

We learned that chickens can go through food and water incredibly fast—especially during the hot summer months. Those little containers we started with needed to be filled far more often than we expected. So, naturally, we upgraded. We picked up two five-gallon buckets and the special attachments to turn one into a waterer and another into a feeder. Now their water lasts for several days, even in the summer heat, and their food only needs to be refilled about once a week.

Much better.

Then we learned about oyster shells. Apparently, laying hens need extra calcium to help produce strong eggshells, so oyster shells were added to the shopping list and became part of their daily routine.

Then came another lesson: chickens can pick up parasites from the bugs and things they find while scratching around in the ground. Another thing nobody mentioned when we first said, “Sure, we’ll take four chickens.” So we learned how to deal with that, too. Now I add a mixture of spices to their food as part of our routine to help support their health and keep those unwanted visitors away.

And then came the hardest lesson of all. Sometimes chickens just die. One day I went out to the coop with their treats, expecting to find all four girls waiting for me. But Sophia was dead. There was no obvious reason. No warning. Just Sophia, gone. That was the moment I really wished I had asked more questions when we got them.

How old were they?

How long had they been laying?

What had their lives been like before they came to us?

We simply hadn’t thought to ask, didn’t know to ask. We had been so focused on getting everything ready for four chickens that we never thought about their history. The other three girls—Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose—are thriving. They look healthy and happy, and they keep us entertained every day.

We’ve learned that chickens have quite the personality when it comes to snacks. This summer, they’ve enjoyed watermelon, corn, and peas, along with their favorite treats. One especially hot day, we filled a large container with ice-cold water and sprinkled some of their worms into it. We watched as they drank from the cold water and fished the worms out, completely entertained by our little chicken spa day.

It turns out, chickens can be pretty fun. And if you’ve spent any time around chicken people, you’ve probably heard of something called chicken math. Apparently, you start with four chickens. Then somehow you end up with twelve. Then twenty-four. Then fifty.

We’re not there. At least not yet. For now, we’re perfectly happy with our three girls. We’re learning from them every day—how to take care of them, what they like, what they don’t like, and all the little things that make them who they are.

Sometimes I sit in the coop and talk to them while I give them treats. Sometimes I’m out there collecting eggs or cleaning the coop. And sometimes I just go out to say hello. I’m learning that the more time we spend with them, the more comfortable they become with us. They know us now. And somehow, somewhere along the way, they stopped feeling like chickens we brought home this spring. They’re family.

That’s the funny thing about this chapter of my life. I didn’t set out looking for chickens. I had researched them, decided I wasn’t ready, and put the idea aside. Then life sent four Golden Girls right to our doorstep. I didn’t know what I was doing when we started. I still don’t know everything there is to know. But I’ve learned that sometimes you don’t have to know everything before you begin. Sometimes you just have to be willing to learn as you go. And sometimes the things you never planned for become the things you can’t imagine your life without.

Thanks for being here. I’m glad you stopped by!