The D.O.T. Garden, an essential part of campus, helps the Science department to teach grades 6-12 about regenerative agriculture. The most overlooked part, hiding in the back corner of the garden, is the chicken coop where you can find our six peck-tacular chickens! Even if you don’t know them as well as we do, this is your chance to meet the D.O.T. garden chickens.

Grumpy
Contrary to her name, Grumpy is a sweet chicken who loves being held. She definitely isn’t a quiet chicken, as you can hear her making her “grumpy noises” all the way from the Natatorium, hence her name. You can recognize her by her black feathers with an opalescent shimmer, her dark black eyes, and her black comb.

Sunny
Sunny, the ball of sunshine, is very sweet and sometimes likes to be held. She is the debated leader of the flock, next to Sher. She has mostly black feathers with a golden ring of feathers around her neck and a red comb. To tell the twins (Sunny & Sher) apart, look out for Sunny’s bright orange eyes.

Sher
Sher, the other potential leader of the group, doesn’t mind being held occasionally. With her black body and golden ring of feathers around her neck, she looks incredibly similar to Sunny except for her dark black eyes.

Blondie
Blondie, the feisty chick, is not a big fan of being held and can have an attitude every now and then. She is the easiest to recognize, from her light golden/beige feathers and red comb.

Shine
Shine, the “chicken” of the flock, is overly nervous most of the time except when she’s around Ms. Anderson. She is from the chicken tractor and has just moved to the chicken coop. She is completely black with black eyes, just like Grumpy, except her feathers are fluffier.

Shimmer
Shimmer is a lot like Shine as she also gets scared easily, but she is slightly braver than Shine. She is also from the chicken tractor and was recently moved to the chicken coop. She has quite fluffy grey feathers, a black underside, and a dark grey comb.

How have the chickens been this year?
Unfortunately, the chickens aren’t in complete peace and they do fight. There has been some bullying happening within the last couple of months. Originally, Grumpy, Sunny, Sher, and Blondie lived together in the chicken coop, and Shimmer and Shine lived in the chicken tractor in the orchard. Around the start of the school year, the garden staff realized that the tractor was getting worn out, which forced them to bring Shimmer and Shine over to the coop. While they hoped that the chickens would get along, it went poorly the first time, because the other chickens bullied Shimmer and Shine. Grumpy would specifically pick on Shine, and Shimmer became increasingly lonely, not being able to get along with the rest of the chickens. So the garden staff had to make some changes. First, using a wire wall, they separated the coop into two sections so the two cliques could see each other but not physically interact. As the weeks have passed, they have been slowly adjusting to each other. Currently, the chickens have had the wall removed, and even though they still prefer to stay separate, they tolerate each other better.

Even with all of their drama, the chickens love to meet new people, and you can find them in the D.O.T. garden, close to the wild spinach and the huckleberries. You can also go to Chicken Club, a club fully dedicated to spending time with the six egg-citing girls! Chicken Club meets every Tuesday before school, from 7:40-8:00, so feel free to drop in anytime (maybe you’ll get to take an egg home!). It’s never a bad idea to stop by our beautiful school garden and get to know more about our stupendous chickens.