Kim Dye’s family expanded once the pandemic hit.
Prior to quarantine, she was a mother to a son and a cat, but now, the San Francisco-based designer has adopted two chickens.
The chickens became a part of Dye’s creative journey. Since she couldn’t work during the pandemic, she channeled her energy outdoors.
At first, it began with a victory garden that she said only set her back about $50.
When Dye proved to have a green thumb, a friend suggested that she take it even further and get some chickens.
That’s where her artistic talents really kicked in.
“I told him if I get chickens, I’m not going to get them a basic chicken coop. I’m going to build something really fantastical,” she said in a video on Good Morning America.
She built the chicken coop from scratch using only upcycled material like a headboard frame.
She recalled that it was an “interesting building process” as the items informed the blueprint of her design, which was inspired by a Romani Caravan wagon.
“When you’re getting free stuff, you have to piece it together. It’s like a puzzle,” Dye admitted.
A woman from a local chicken group gave Dye free chickens, which she named Hester and Prynne after “The Scarlet Letter.”
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In addition to being “very loyal” and “dependable,” Dye said the chickens also have a lot of personality.
“I always tell everyone they’re like flying dogs. They’re super attentive, they just want your attention. They just want to be fed. Just keep them fed and happy,” she explained.
She grew very attached to her outdoor babies: “I think motherhood itself with human babies is very similar. You’re just trying to figure it out as you go along.”
Dye notes that the chickens allowed her to connect to a group during a very isolating period in history.
“In the pandemic you’re so disconnected from everybody, so it was great to have this new community of people. I mean, even if it was just virtual,” she said.
“I took this process when I was really kind of at a low point and somewhat adrift,” Dye said.
She continued: “I mean, our identities as people are just so tied up in what we do for a living, and when that is stripped away from you, you know, without a cause of your own, it’s super disorienting.”
“The whole process just put me back in touch with my baseline,” she said, adding that it helped to know she was still creative and could make beautiful things.
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