Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Washington state budget current under negotiation in Olympia includes cuts to higher education of 3 to 6 percent. That means tuition is on the rise for college students around the state. Two young entrepreneurs in a suburb east of Seattle are getting an early start on raising money. They’re raising chickens. Chantal Anderson paid a visit.  

Emma Heinonen: “Hey, Hannah, we’ve got eggs, one, two, three, four, five, six. Six eggs! Yeah, lots of eggs there. ”

It’s a productive day in the chicken coop for Hannah and Emma Heinonen. The sisters are 14 and 11 years old. For the last four years they've been selling these eggs to neighbors and people at their parents’ work. Three dollars a dozen. Most cartons come with a picture of the chicken who produced the eggs inside. Some are named for authors, and others...

Hannah Heinonen: “This is Jackie. Emma is this Hillary or Eleanor? The new flock is all first ladies, with the exception of Aretha. Aretha Franklin because she was the singer. She would not keep quiet.”   Hannah started a blog called “12 Chicken Tracks” to keep customer’s updated on the lives of their fowl. She gets page views from all over the world -- Britain, India and Brazil. While raising chickens may have global interest, Liza Burke says it’s becoming a local trend in the Northwest.

Liza Burke: “They’re super popular right now, tons of people are interested in raising chickens.”Burke works for the nonprofit, Seattle Tilth. It offers classes for kids and adults on how to raise chicks. She says those classes are filling up. She thinks one reason is the bad economy.  Liza Burke: “Raising food has a new value when there’s less money people have an economic crunch at home. And so I think that being able to bring food in is a real benefit, and also being able to sell your product is a wonderful way to deal with the economic situation.”Back at the Heinonen’s chicken coop, Hannah tells me there’s a lot to juggle when taking care of chickens. Besides not cracking the eggs ...

Hannah Heinonen: “Hey, oh that happens sometimes.” ... building the coop is another hurdle. Lucky for these girls, Dad has a lot of experience in this field.   John Heinonen: “I grew up on a farm in Michigan, and we had a real nice chicken coop there that was a production type coop for a small farm anyway. And so with the limited light in the wintertime you have to add lights to kind of fool their clocks that they think its spring all the time. I hate to diss the chickens and how smart they are, but they’re pretty easy to fool.”    Unlike their Dad though, Emma and Hannah don’t actually eat their chickens. John Heinonen is just happy he can share the experience with his kids.   John Heinonen: “I think it’s a good idea to grow up with a little agriculture — where food comes from.”

Liza Burke says to get started, chicks cost about $5 each. As for the girls and their business, they have no plans of closing shop anytime soon. Or, until they go away for college that is. In Hannah’s case eventually Veterinarian school.

She leaves me with one last tip for other kids looking to get into the chicken business. To be successful, it helps to have... Hannah Heinonen: “Nice parents.”

On the web: http://12chickentracks.blogspot.com/ http://seattletilth.org/