To the far left of the garden we found a chicken coop and run.  The inmates have been raising their chickens and butchering them in 2010.  Last year the chickens produced 600 pounds of meat.  The inmates don’t get much red meat or pork.  Because of local donations, the garden and chicken programs have been started with no expense to the county.

The worst thing about caring for chickens is cleaning up all the poop.  They don’t care where they are or what they are doing; chickens are equal opportunity poopers.  They also kick their food all around and peck at each other, often pulling out feathers.

Most of the inmates at thus facility have already lived lives with lots of  poop, (dysfunctional families, single parent families, foster care, family abuse and more)  This isn’t meant to be an excuse to break the law, but it can help one understand why they make such bad choices.

Chicken poop stinks and sticks to your shoes.  Sometimes things in our lives stink and stick to us no matter how we try to fix it.  Our legal system is far from perfect, but it does try to offer help to those who need it.

We find that at times our lives feel as if we are being torn apart and scattered to the wind.  These residents must feel that way sometimes.  Chickens also like to pick fights and peck at the other chickens.  I would think that most of these inmates are familiar with fights and trying to protect themselves from the stronger prisoners.

Perhaps using a chicken to explain an inmates behavior is not the best example.  But, I think you get the idea.  We all are the product of our pasts and we all want to do better in the future.  It does no good to ignore your circumstances and just hope they will go away.  We have to deal with our reality, one step at a time.

Sheriff Kyle Overmyer does his best to encourage the individuals placed in his care. He wants to help them change their lives so they won’t make return visits to the jail. The garden and chickens is one of the ways he has chosen to help them.