Ft Worth Times

Raz Shafer grew up on a Texas ranch, but chickens weren’t among the family's livestock.

Now, Shafer, 33, and his young family were living in Fort Worth where he does major fundraising work for universities as well as offering software services to political campaigns. 

What is he doing now?

The Shafer family bought 18 leghorn chicks and plan to raise them and collect eggs. | Submitted

He’s raising chickens.

“My great-grandfather, when I was young, he had some chickens,” he told Ft. Worth Times. “My family never raised chickens.”

But he and his wife Jennie have been considering a move to the country. They thought it would be a healthy environment for their sons Stoney, 2 1/2, and Cannon, 6 months. Chickens might be a start to their new rural life, Shafer said.

When the world turned upside down with the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Raz, Jennie and their two kids left their home to spend time on his parents' ranch outside of Stephenville about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

“Our goal in the next couple years is to move out into the country,” he said.

He said living with his parents and near his three living grandparents, works out well. Stoney has a lot of ground to cover on the 200-acre place of his parents, Dwayne and Kathy Shafer.

As long as they are there, he said, they decided to get some chickens.

He picked up 14 leghorn pullets and four Brahmas. A pullet is a young hen, while a Brahma is a young rooster. The chicks were about a week old when he purchased them at Tractor Supply.

“Their full feathers are starting to come in on their wings and tails,” Shafer said.

The chicks are growing and soon will be producing eggs. So far, all 18 have survived.

“This is unrelated as far as the pandemic,” he said. “I think we were going to get chickens either way.”

Jennie Shafer said she has been pulling for chickens for some time.

“I’ve been asking him for years if we could get chickens. He would never let me,” she told Ft. Worth Times. “This has been a long time doing on my part. I am really particular about the quality of what we feed our kids. I feel like a lot of the big farm chickens have a lot of crap on them we don’t need. I know they are easy to raise. It’s fun.”

She grew up in a rural setting, but like her husband, they didn’t own chickens. They had a few head of cattle and other animals, however, and her grandfather had a small ranch.

Jennie said her first encounters with poultry were unpleasant. A mean old rooster used to chase her and other kids around, so she was, well, chicken about chickens.

Raz said the chicks will be fun to watch and also will provide an enjoyable hobby for his family. But they also will help his kids learn valuable lessons about being responsible and caring for animals.

Jennie said Raz and his brother learned a good worth ethic and basic knowledge about animals and other things growing up on a ranch. They want to impart them to their children.

“My husband was raised doing a lot of ranchhand stuff. They can learn about land and animals and taking care of themselves,” she said. “Animals must be fed daily, and watered, you have to check on them, not be rough ... things that sometimes go against a small boy’s nature. We want to teach him those things.”

Jennie said Stoney has watched his Dad skin and gut deer and other animals. It’s part of life that needs to be imparted.

“It’s important that they know meat doesn’t come from the grocery store,” she said. “It comes from animals.”

Some of that meat will come from broilers, as the Shafers plan to buy some larger broilers in partnership with Raz’s uncle.

Raz said when they move back to Fort Worth, he will build a chicken coop in his back yard. The city allows residents to have a limited number of poultry: 12 or fewer on lots of a half-acre or less, 25 on lots between a half-acre and an acre, and a maximum of 50 on lots larger than an acre.

Only two of the birds can be roosters, no matter the size of the property.

Raz said he hopes to have chicken and other livestock on a ranch out in the country and though he has found success in the city, he remains a country boy at heart.

The only problem might be what to do with all the eggs, Raz said with a laugh. Leghorns average about 280 eggs a year, although some will lay more than 300 annually.

“If they produce like I have been figuring, it will mean about 3,000 eggs a year,” he said.

That’s a lot of omelets and scrambled eggs for the family.