Krista Hamilton
Hometown: Claremore, Okla.
Family: Husband, Ron; five children; daughter Ashley, James and his wife Bree with grandson Spencer, son Ryan, daughter Sarah and her husband Landon and son Alex.
In Town: “I am the school nurse for Sequoyah Public Schools, which has 1,400 students. This means that I am their mom eight hours a day, supplying clothing, Band-Aids, hugs and whatever else they need. I am known as the mint lady and hand out more ice bags than I can count.
“Ron is a lieutenant with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, supervising eight troopers and working out of Tulsa. His job is part office, part patrol, and, like me, he wears many hats. We are also members of the Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Claremore.”
Country Life: “We have 20 acres outside of Claremore, Okla., where we maintain 75 laying hens and six roosters. Laying breeds seem to handle weather extremes better though we use misters as needed for summer heat. We have a variety of breeds, including Rhode Island Reds, some Black Marans, Silkies and Cochins, but only sell eggs and chicks though I do retain some chicks as replacement hens. When chicks are born, I sex them and keep the roosters for meat while selling the females. I share an office with a PE teacher whose daughter, 10-year-old, Stormi is in the fifth grade. We have an informal partnership and she will trade eggs for chicks to supplement her flock.
“We show chickens at the Rogers County (Okla.) Fair. We have won Best in Breed for both our chickens and our eggs. We also have a Blue Heeler named Bandit who is our guard dog, even though he does not have access to the chickens but rather to the area outside one of the coops. Guarding the chicks is important because we have issues with possums, skunks, fox, red tail hawks and snakes, but especially with raccoons and coyotes. We feed the chickens egg pellets and use chicken scratch as a treat. We are planning to expand Bandit’s area to adequately protect two of the coops and plan on breeding him with a young female called Josie with the intent of selling their puppies. We also raise and sell Boxers.”
Future: “My 2-year-old grandson Spencer loves to throw the chicken scratch to feed the growing chickens who are very pampered and tame. Consequently, we plan to maintain the same size flock and really have no desire to raise cattle again. These chickens are our hobby and the center of our country life, something we enjoy sharing as a family.”
