By: Alonna Gibbs
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Robert Heard Jr. tending to the chicken coop that houses 11 chickens before letting them out to clean and remove eggs and waste from the coop. Heard and his family breeds chickens for fresh eggs to eat with their family.
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One out of the 11 chickens that are house at Robert Sr. and Monteen Heard's College Park, Georgia home. |
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Robert Heard Jr. tending to the chicken coop that houses 11 chickens before letting them out to clean and remove eggs and waste from the coop. Marsheri Heard, (wife to Robert Heard Jr. who is not pictured) says they started the chicken farm when COVID first happened in March of 2020.
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| 6 out of the 11 chickens that are house at Robert Sr. and Monteen Heard's College Park, Georgia home. Marsheri Heard says her in-laws are heavily involved with the breeding process. |
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Marsheri Heard feeding one of the chickens after her husband lets them out to allow them to roam the backyard before herding them back in. "Having a chicken farm is a lot of work to do", said the mother of three.
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Mrs. Heard petting one of her chickens to showcase how she cares for them on a day to day basis. Heard's 8-year-old daughter (who is not pictured), Jailyn Ponder says that she isn't afraid of the chickens and that she likes to help her parents care for them. |
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| One out of the 11 chickens that are house at Robert Sr. and Monteen Heard's College Park, Georgia home. |
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Mrs. Heard's weekly cleaning of the chicken coop. While talking to her Aunt Erica, Marsheri notes that she only cleans the feeder and chicken waste weekly. "I only clean the feeder weekly because it is a self dispense feeder and I want to clean it once it gets to a low point so I can refill it for the week." |
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Marsheri Heard talking and showcasing where and how she cleans the chicken waste. Inside the chicken coop is a 4-tier space for the chickens to expel their waste.
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One of the tier spaces that was filled with chicken waste before Mrs. Heard cleaned it for her weekly cleaning.
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Marsheri Heard cleaning the chicken waste that has been expelled since the last weekly cleaning.
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Mrs. Heard using a medium sized scraper to remove the waste into a biodegradable bowl to hold the waste.
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Mrs. Heard using a medium sized scraper to remove the waste into a biodegradable bowl to hold the waste.
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Robert Heard walking towards the coop to lay hay for the chickens. "The hay absorbs the moisture and smell the chickens leave in the coop. Ever smell a coop without hay after a week? It's the worst smell ever."
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Mr. Heard walking inside the coop to lay the hay while the chickens roam his parents backyard.
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Mr. Heard covering the base of the chicken coop before covering the upper parts of the coop.
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One of the initial 12 chickens the Heard family had, found dead by Robert Heard. Upon discovering the deceased chicken, it was noted by Heard that it had been dead for a couple of days after examining it. |
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Heard holding the chicken in a shovel to dispose of the now deceased chicken. Heard and his father both had theories of what may have killed the chicken a few days ago. |
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As the day wind's down in the chicken coop, Monteen Heard (mother to Robert Heard Jr) helps her son and daughter-in-law herd the chickens back in the coop to gather a head count of how many chickens are left in the coop. |
Mrs. Heard uses gluten-free Cheerios to herd the chickens back into the coop for the day as she does a mental head count of how many chickens are left to look after.
