Deciding On A Family Pet
I was never the enthusiastic one where animals were concerned. This was particularly the case when we had a betta fish named Stewie. We got rid of Stewie when I accidentally gave birth while staying at my parents house. (Special thanks to my mother, who kept the betta fish alive until it died of old age.)
We got a hamster a few years after that. Ugh! But the kids loved the hamster from day one, and named it Happy. They were all happy with Happy the Hamster. Since this hamster, we have a family rule that we must always have a pet named Happy.
The only one who was not happy with Happy was me, Isha Yiras Hashem. Happy, being a normal hamster in every way, had the habit of burrowing, and whenever I couldn't see him, I was terrified he had escaped. I once called our Rabbi on Friday, to find out what to do if Happy disappeared and we needed to catch him on Shabbat. Thankfully, it turned out that Happy hadn't escaped that time.
Over time, my children began to feel that having a hamster was not sufficient. They wanted an “interesting” pet. Which led to daily conversations, more or less along these lines, usually at around 5:30 in the morning:
Child 1: Mommy. I want to tell you about having a pet cheetah. You need to be very brave to have a pet cheetah. And you need to do whatever it wants.
Me, flatly: I do not want a pet cheetah.
Child 2: How about a pet ocelot? That would be fun! (An ocelot is a type of big cat.)
Me: I don't want a pet ocelot either.
Child 1: How about a pet bird eating spider?
Me, unwilling to seriously engage any further: I'm going to get your school clothes.
Child 1: Male cheetahs only eat bugs and insects. You don't have to worry if you get a male cheetah. Female cheetahs are endangered, and they are the ones that eat meat. We will make sure to feed our male cheetah lots of insects.
(Me : speechless. Makes a mental note not to believe scientific facts from Child 1 or 2 without looking them up.)
It took far too long, but eventually Happy the Hamster died, and I could see the handwriting on the wall. If I didn't embrace the idea of a new pet, my family would ensure that one found its way into our lives.
Searching for a compromise, I pondered a pet that would be bearable, enjoy the outdoors, demand minimal attention, add value to our lives, and adhere to our kosher lifestyle. The answer dawned on me: chickens! Everyone was thrilled to have me on board for a new pet. So chickens it was.
Apologies. This is the fixed link: Chickens
I have found that chickens are pretty easy to take care of. The poop factor is limited to the outdoors and their coop. And they’re fairly sociable if you raise them from chicks.
I have a post brewing about the best chicken I’ve ever had, this is inspiration.
My childhood hamster was nocturnal and spent most of the night running in exercise wheel. No matter how carefully we oiled it, the squeaking never went away. Chickens do seem like a good choice.