Brad interviews Caroline Dohack, a Hustle writer and former chicken keeper, about the pandemic-era trend of panic-buying baby chicks. They cover the booming business of chick sellers, the economics of backyard egg production, and Caroline’s own entertaining stories from years of keeping chickens with hip-hop-named birds.
Speakers: Brad (host, head of Continental Hustle), Caroline Dohack (writer, The Hustle)
Introduction [00:00:00]
Brad: Hey everyone, I’m Brad, head of Continental Hustle. I’m joined tonight by Caroline Dohack, one of our longest-serving and most entertaining writers, who does a lot of work for the Daily. This week she’s got a Sunday story for us. Welcome to the show, Caroline.
Caroline: Thanks for having me, Brad.
Brad: You bet. So we’ve written about people who are baking their own bread, people who are doing a lot more gardening, lots of DIY trends. This week Caroline has a story about chicken rearing. And I wonder, Caroline — you’re in the Missouri area — where did you find the chicken story?
How the Story Came About [00:00:30]
Caroline: Sure. I am — have been — a chicken wrangler in the past, not at the moment, but I was just scrolling Facebook one day and a friend who lives out of town had posted that anyone who had panic-bought chickens and found them overwhelming was welcome to donate them to her. However, people needed to know that she already had a full flock of laying hens, and any chickens they donated she was going to slaughter and eat. That’s how you stumble upon the story.
Brad: You realize there’s panic-buying happening?
Caroline: Yeah, I hadn’t heard of that. Urban hens have been popular for a while, and so I looked into it, and yeah — this has been a thing. Turns out it is a thing now, and there’s a whole economy around it.
The Business of Selling Chicks [00:01:10]
Brad: So what does the business of raising chickens look like, both for the consumer and for the businesses, as much as you know at this point?
Caroline: If you are in the business of selling baby chicks or chicken products, this is a great time for you. You are seeing, compared with last year, your sales have increased hundreds of percentages. It’s awesome.
If you are someone who has panic-purchased chickens, hopefully you have done your research, hopefully you know what you’re in for. If you don’t know what you’re in for, my friend will eat your chickens.
The thing is, you’re not going to break even on your investment, and you’re not going to have a steady stream of eggs — not for a while — because your chicks will have to mature. They also go through awkward molting phases, and they don’t lay in the winter.
Are Backyard Chickens Worth It? [00:02:10]
Brad: But you do get these amazing fresh-laid eggs. Is it worth the hassle? I mean, obviously you’ll explore this more in the story, but it doesn’t make a lot of money for you — but you get these nice eggs.
Caroline: Personally, I think so. The eggs are far superior to what you get at the store. The yolks are orange. They just stand up in the pan. There’s some research on the omega levels that shows they’re more nutritious. The chickens are fun — you look out your window and you see these little triangles moving around. They have personalities. And your neighbors will like you a lot more. I was concerned when I first got into it that they would not, but they like it. And if you share with them, you become very popular.
Brad: Exactly — share some eggs.
Chicken Names and Backyard Drama [00:03:00]
Brad: You’ve had some entertaining battles in your yard with chickens. Tell us about your favorite story and some of the names.
Caroline: Sure. My husband is an early-90s hip hop aficionado, so a lot of our chickens have hip hop or R&B inspired names. We got our first batch — six of them. Little Kim died of unnatural causes, we’re not sure what. LP was killed by a raccoon, which was very messy. So we got two new ones to replace them: Mary J. Blige and Pharrell.
And it was the girl who was at the very lowest point in the pecking order — she was very insecure — and she started pecking the new girls in the neck. She actually pecked a hole in Mary J. Blige’s neck. The thing is, you don’t want that, because if they get a taste for one another’s flesh they will cannibalize. It’s very gross.
So your choices are: you can clip their beaks, which I’m not into; you can kill the chicken, which I’m not into; or you can get these things called pinless peepers. They’re blinders, but they look like Kanye West sunglasses. They fit into the nostrils on the top of the beak — it’s completely humane — and they keep the chicken from seeing straight ahead so she can’t attack, but she can still see well enough that she can peck and scratch and forage.
Salt-and-Pepper had to wear these for a while until they got used to Pharrell and Mary J. Blige. It took a little while, but they got over it.
Closing [00:04:20]
Brad: That’s fantastic. I can’t wait to read your story — there’s so much more to hear about the chicken business, how you raise them, how lovely they can be, and then also some very troubling things which you will talk about in the story. I’m not going to let you tell everyone now, but make sure you open the email on Sunday. You will love Caroline Dohack’s first Sunday story. Thanks for tuning in, everyone.
Caroline: Thank you so much.