Pitzer Student Garden introduced 10 new chicks to their coop in late February after the suspected theft of two chickens last semester. This week, the baby birds were old enough to venture outside the coop and into a larger fenced-off area, providing students with an opportunity to meet them.
The Garden’s coop has been empty since December, after two chickens went missing — with only one being found — and the staff gave away the rest of the birds, which were suffering from age-related health problems.
“It got to the point where we couldn’t give them the best care that they needed,” Garden Manager Miriam Hafkin PZ ’28 said.
This Spring, the garden felt empty without the chickens, according to Hafkin. Students began asking about the whereabouts of the flock.
“We were like, ‘Okay, we need to ASAP get new chickens,’” Hafkin said.
The staff had originally planned to hatch chicks from eggs, but the logistics were too complicated. Instead, they decided to wait until chick season, said Garden Manager Ukiah Halloran-Steiner PZ ’27. For chickens, that season starts in February.
On Feb. 27, Garden Manager Elias Gradinger PZ ’26 joined Halloran-Steiner to pick out 10 one- to two-week-old chicks from a feed store in Pomona. They chose a variety of breeds and sexes: seven females, and three unsexed.
For the first month of their captivity, the chicks lived in a small, wooden enclosure equipped with a heat lamp without access to the full outdoor coop.
This week, the managers decided that the adolescent chicks were finally old enough for a coop expansion. They now have access to the wider run area of the coop, which gives them more space and allows people to peek at them through the windows. This interaction helps their socialization process, according to Hafkin.
Still, the garden staff is tightening the safety measures this semester due to predatory threats from lingering hawks and the recent chicken theft. Precautions include locking every entrance to the coop, counting the chicks three times daily and prohibiting non-employees from entering the coop.
“We just want to maintain safety with everything that’s happened,” Hafkin said. She added that the staff will likely not let the birds roam around the entire garden until the fall.
Though students can only meet the chicks across the coop’s fence right now, Halloran-Steiner and garden volunteer Mason Barto PZ ’28 both said they are happy to have a full coop again, as the chickens greatly contribute to the school environment.
“The Pitzer garden without chickens is not really at its full potential,” Barto said.
The Garden also collaborates with Pitzer’s student-run restaurant and student center, The Grove House, by donating the chickens’ eggs for The Grove House’s recipes. Barto estimated that the new chicks will start laying eggs at the beginning of fall semester.
Meanwhile, the chickens will roam in their large-cage space, exploring the new environment. The Garden employees and volunteers, dubbed “chicken tenders,” will continue to manage their health and development.
“I’m so excited to have the chickens here on campus,” Halloran-Steiner said. “I think that they’re such a vital part of the Pitzer community.”
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