If you have visited the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Community Garden recently, you might have heard a few clucks coming from a new chicken coop.

In addition to the garden’s vegetables and other food items, there are now a few chickens—and, occasionally, pigs—to provide sustenance and farm animal education to the Community.

Garden Technician Jared Butler said that the animals are in the garden to aid Community members in learning to be more self-sufficient and sustainable with their food. The chickens are expected to produce eggs sometime.

“The chickens aren’t very traditional [for the O’odham], but it’s a modern tradition for us,” said Butler. “A lot of us grew up seeing our grandmas and grandpas tending to chicken coops.”

Butler said that, at this time, the garden doesn’t have enough chickens to provide eggs for 10 to 50 homes, but the staff looks forward to providing at least a half-dozen or a dozen eggs to elders or to youth as a demonstration project.  

The chickens are housed in a coop with the same footprint as a structure built by former garden coordinator and current SRPMIC Council member Jacob Butler about 20 years ago, according to Community Garden Supervisor Jeffrey Wilson.

“The structure was in a little bit of disrepair, and we were thinking about what we wanted to do, because we liked the way it looked. It was really neat because it had a big, enclosed area and then kind of a walkway or arbor coming into it,” said Wilson.

To get the ball rolling on a new structure, Community Garden Coordinator Stetson Mendoza reached out to SRPMIC Engineering and Construction Services, who provided the labor to put the new structure in place to house the chickens.

Sadly, during Easter weekend in April, either dogs or coyotes found a way inside the coop and enjoyed a big chicken dinner.

“They ripped the cage back and got into the coop. There were chickens here and there all over the garden, so [the dogs] must have had a good time chasing [the chickens] around,” said Butler.

The wire around the coop has since been reinforced.

Upon entering the coop’s swing door, you’ll step on fresh straw, which helps the chickens to nest and keep cool. There are also 10-foot, two-level nesting areas on both sides.

Garden staff provide the chickens with fresh water and chicken feed, which is a pellet mixture of grain and corn. Butler explained his routine with the chickens.

“You’ve got to come and check on them. You’ve got to make sure that their feeder is filled with water,” said Butler. “I always get an extra pan of water so that they can walk in it, sit in it or drink it.”