Sophomore Justice Booker works with various chicken breeds inside the coop. Photos by Penh Alicandro ’22
They started their first year at Eckerd College a little late, none of them have declared a major, and other than combs, they didn’t bring anything with them to campus. Their names are Paprika, Pepper, Creole, Cream of Tartar, and MSG. They don’t have last names.
But they have very important jobs that just come naturally, and they produce something almost everyone enjoys: eggs.
In early March, Eckerd welcomed, for the first time, chickens—five hens and five female chicks. The birds live at the Eckerd College Community Farm, a 1-acre plot between the Johnson Athletic Field and the baseball field, and they play several key roles—making compost that fertilizes the farm soil, producing up to 10 eggs a day for the farm crew, providing a learning opportunity for students and adding countless smiles to the faces of farm visitors.
Maggie Jensen ’11 was a student when the space was first adopted by the Eckerd College Garden Club in 2010 with the vision of turning the acre into an outdoor classroom for students who want to learn about sustainable agriculture. Now the community farm manager, Jensen says bringing chickens on campus builds on that goal. But it took some work.
Largely because of regulations and concerns regarding the well-being of the chickens and the people who care for and visit them, the project was four years in the making. Jensen had to design complex proposals and get them approved. “For instance, I had to explain what we were going to do if the chickens got sick,” she says, “what brand of cleaning supplies we were going to use. And every person who will be interacting with the program has to complete an intensive online training program.”
But the work and the wait, she says, were worth it. “The chickens make the farm more of a farm. They add a whole other element. To see and hear them while we’re working … they add to the ambience. The best part is seeing the students become so involved and so interested in the chickens.
“And there is an educational component. It’s a closed-loop system—meaning instead of buying products, bringing them in and then taking products out, everything remains on the property. We grow the food they eat, compost it and put it back into the soil to grow more food. The chickens are compost machines.”
On a recent Friday morning, Justice Booker, a sophomore animal studies student from Hollywood, Florida, who is part of the team working with the chickens, was inside the coop with a jug of mealworms. With several people watching from outside the coop, she moved around inside, calling out a different chicken’s name. Each time, the correct bird came to her.
“They’re usually very shy,” Justice says. “And they all have really distinct personalities.”
The chickens are of varying breeds and were donated to the College by Amber Glen, a feedstore in nearby Pinellas Park. But before they could arrive on campus, the birds needed a shelter in place. So with help from members of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College, who donated their time at the College’s MakerSpace facility, students spent months customizing a shed already at the farm. Because coyotes, rats and other predators are known to frequent the area, the coop includes metal fencing that runs deep underground.
The farm is far more than a place to grow plants. Hundreds of pounds of farm-grown produce—primarily kale, collard greens, mustard, carrots and peppers—is sold every year to Bon Appétit, the company that manages the College’s cafeteria. In return, the farm receives, primarily from the cafeteria, thousands of pounds of food waste, which is used for compost.
David Himmelfarb, Ph.D., faculty director of the farm, feeds mealworms to the new residents.
The farm also serves as a classroom for dozens of classes, and it provides employment for student farmers, ambassadors and interns.
David Himmelfarb, Ph.D., is an environmental studies instructor and internship coordinator at Eckerd who also is the faculty director of the farm. He says the chickens will be an educational asset to many different disciplines—including environmental studies, animal studies and more.
“Having the chickens is huge for our agroecosystem,” Himmelfarb says. “If you want to farm in our part of Florida, you have to be building soil, and chickens supercharge the composting process. They really increase our ability to add existing nutrients to the soil.
“And for the students, it gives them new skills working with animals. While visiting classes won’t be able to handle the chickens for health reasons, having them here enriches our conversations about agroecosystems. I’ve seen students doing their homework next to the coop. The chickens are just cute and fun to watch.”
Something Kionna Bright knows all too well. A senior from Greensburg, Indiana, Kionna grew up on a farm that had about 300 chickens. During Autumn Term of her first year, she began working at the farm and has been a key part of the effort to bring chickens to Eckerd ever since. Her official title at the farm is chicken program manager, but her friends affectionately call her The Chicken Lady.
Kionna, who is majoring in biology and environmental studies while minoring in animal studies, is well aware of the sustainability and educational advantages of raising chickens at the farm. But she says there is another, less obvious, benefit.
“I think the chickens give the students a little escape,” she says. “You go to the farm and sit and watch the chickens and listen to them … it relaxes you. I’ve noticed a lot more students going to the farm since we got the chickens. And having them here is such a great learning tool.”
