Captain Heather

Hello, my name is Heather aka The Squirrely Hen. The business name was inspired by our pet squirrels we saved and of course our hens.

My love of chickens started pretty much as soon as I could walk. Growing up as a farm girl in the Midwestern State of Iowa, chickens were one of the staple livestock. 

Every spring my mom would bring us to the local hatchery and let us pick out our very own special chick. Most of the chickens were for butchering that fall, but the lucky hens or the pet roosters we picked out  escaped that fate. Such was the case with my absolute favorite pet chicken, Spangles. He lived about 10 years and was around most of my childhood years. He was an Ameracauna which is a breed that lays blue eggs. I grew up eating many colored eggs, blue, white, tans, browns, greens, pinks. I always thought everyone had the luxury to truly be able to have Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast.

Almost every childhood memory I think back to had chickens in it, or at least in the background scratching and pecking the ground.

The funny thing about growing up on a farm for some though, is that you think when you get out of the house and start your own life, that you never want to have this slow farm life for yourself. I wanted to live in the city or at least a town, be around busy people, shops and finally LIVE. Or so I thought.

So that’s what I did. I moved to a suburban town with my husband in Minnesota.

Then a couple of  kiddos later, I truly felt that farm part of my life was missing. I wanted it so badly again. Not just for me but for my kids.  Having animals as a child was such a gift. You learn to care for a living thing, you have a friend around when maybe at times you feel  so alone, you get to nurture a living thing that is counting on you, you also see that each creature has  its own traits and unique personality.

As soon as we were able to have the space for chickens, I jumped back into it. We are only living on 1 acre, which is only a drop compared to the hundreds of acres I grew up on, but with the chickens and gardens we can homestead and live a more self-sustainable, full life. Fast forward 3 years,  my husband and kids and myself cannot see ourselves without our silly little fluffy butt pets that feed us breakfast and follow us around the yard all day. Now that’s living!

At the beginning of this year, I decided to completely leave my Real Estate career after 7+ years. I was not happy doing it for some time and was ready to take a step back to focus on my health and my family. The Squirrely Hen business started.  This small business was created  for selling my chicken’s eggs but hope to expand to handmade chicken feeders and other diy projects based on backyard poultry. I also have an Instagram that features weekly facts about chickens and fun silly content about chickens and chicken keeping.  @the_squirrely_hen.

We love our backyard crew so much. We were thrilled to find a company like COOHGRUBS to feed to our picky little eaters. Our flock will not eat meal worms, only the yummy black soldier flies. I also love that the company is focused on the environment and sustainability. The treats also help my girls’ shells stay nice and healthy, help keep their yolks a beautiful orange, support them during their molts, and also helps me to get them to come when called and do chicken tricks! Seriously this is the only treat that motivates them consistently!!!! We LOVE you COOHGRUBS and we thank you!!