Chicken coop giveaway thrills two Maine kids

By Abigail Curtis
BDN Staff

MONSON — For the last week, it seems as though 5-year-old Kendall Killam of Monson has spent all her time at her new favorite place: sitting in a little camp chair that’s parked right next to the chicken coop she won through the Maine Poultry Connection.

Photo courtesy of Scott DeMoranville

POULTRY PRIZE WINNER — Five-year-old Kendall Killam, right, of Monson stands inside her new chicken coop with her younger brother Kyle Killam. Kendall Killam won the coop and six chickens in a statewide coop giveaway organized by the Maine Poultry Connection resource group. 

“She’s been living out there, pretty much,” her mom, Nicole Killam, said of Kendall. “Even last night, when it was pouring rain, she had to be out there. She goes out multiple, multiple times a day. She’s in her camp chair out there right now.”

That’s because Kendall’s new coop came with six chickens, which she has been feeding, watering and watching carefully. She won the coop, the six pullets, a year’s supply of grain and more chicken-related gear after writing a short essay explaining why she wanted chickens and how she would care for them. Kendall and James Davis, 6, of Farmington Falls were the two winners of the statewide chicken coop giveaway. Scott DeMoranville, the founder of the Maine Poultry Connection, said that the coop deliveries were a rousing success.

“If you could have seen the looks of those kids’ faces,” he said. “I was giggly right along with them. It was fantastic. Everybody was thrilled about the whole thing.”

Members of the poultry resource group raised more than $4,000 last winter through an online auction to make the coop giveaway happen.

DeMoranville said he’s hoping the Maine Poultry Connection will be able to do a coop giveaway every spring. “It’s just an all-around good thing,” he said.

Nicole Killam said her daughter puts on her Muck boots every morning and heads outside to check on her flock. Kendall — whose favorite chicken is a white silkie she has named Fluffy — has even bigger dreams now, her mom said.

“We have a big vegetable garden out back and a big flower garden. Now Kendall thinks we need a farm,” Nicole Killam said. “Next on her list is pigs and a horse.”