When Chad Beier, a senior agile consultant at Brookfield-based Centare, isn’t helping clients organize more agile business operations, he’s raising six chickens on more than four acres of prairie at his home near the Kettle Moraine State Forest with his wife and two sons.
Beier grew up on a dairy farm and is no stranger to caring for chickens and other farm animals. His wife, whom Beier described as an animal lover, suggested the family start raising chickens. Though at first he was hesitant – he remembered the work that went into caring for animals when he was growing up – he said the after-work hobby has made his family closer.
“It’s brought our family together to focus on one thing together,” Beier said. “Feeding the chickens, watering the chickens, moving them around.”
In August and September, Beier is also looking forward to having a steady supply of fresh eggs.
“Chickens were something I saw value in because I grew up on a dairy farm,” he said. “We always had fresh milk and fresh eggs. They were better than what you get in a store. I’m looking forward to having them mostly for the food.”