Chicken Love

I think I need to raise chickens, actually I'm quite certain of it. Admittedly, I have a few things to sort out first.  One is my obvious backyard Fox infestation.  Second is the doing it.  I have found out that raising chickens is allowed in our town after the acquisition of appropriate permit.  Third, we'd need a coop - so many to drool over all over the web. Finally, and the biggest, the actual commitment.

Had dinner with a great group of women (all local ETSY sellers) last week and one told me of how she rent chickens from a local farm.  Chickens arrive in their mobile coop complete with food and instructions.  You care for them, harvest the eggs and chickens get returned at the end of your rental period.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Perfect, mostly since Big Daddy is not quite certain of my latest obsession... at all.  So happy to learn of a training program with built in return policy.  {Farm is Land's Sake in Weston Ma}.  I have also worried about chickens surviving the winter here - getting them from a local farm should assure they are new england hearty.

It all boils down to the fact that I want fresh eggs.  Fresh eggs is number one and as part of my quest to Be Better.  A big item on my list is that I want to buy less and less from the grocery store, from any store for that matter.  I want my family to connect more with the food we eat.

I read a great article in Organic Gardening this month and there was  little snippet that said it all, thank you for confirming my obsession with the need for chickens:

***

Pulling a warm egg from beneath a broody hen is a magical thing:  the ruffled murmur as she relinquishes; the egg's oval perfection, it's bone-smooth promise.  And fitting so perfectly in the palm of the hand as though the relationship between laying and gather always was.

But when a new CSA member stopped by this week to say hello, I was unprepared for the power and imprint of memory on her visit.  She had grown up on a farm in Iowa, and her connection to that time seemed to rill through her as we did our walkabout.  On the way out, we visited the hens in the "Cage Aux Fowl."  On putting a warm egg in her palm, she began to cry softly.  Clearly, the evocation was almost too much.  There was one awkward silence as she held the egg - and her childhood - in her hand and struggled for composure.  But she seemed grateful for the connection that the experience summoned up.

 

 - journal entry title: Magical Realism, From the Article The Accidental Farmer,

    Organic Gardening April-Sept 2011

 

 

Sign me up!  Rest assured, I'll keep you posted!

 

Comments

[Leah]

We really are sisters from different mothers...I have been begging for backyard chickens for years--ever since living in Portland, where "urban chickens" are all the rage. Fresh eggs are THE BEST. My husband's response to my request started at eff-no and stayed there for years. Last fall when the salmonella outbreak occurred I was *this close* to getting one foot on board with me. Now that we've redone our back yard I fear he might be back in the eff-no camp. Sigh.

[Laurie]

Leah my dear sister - we are in the same boat - have you tried the chicken in back yard benefit angle? They eat the bugs, the produce the best fertilizer and they air-rate the yard??? Worth a try - plus you should see if you can do a "rental" who could say no to a two week trial run??? Good Luck to us both!

[Barefoot Liz]

I lived on a small farm in my tweens/early teens. I loved collecting the eggs! There really does seem to be a difference in taste when eating a fresh-that-morning egg.

Wish I had a yard!

[Mulberry UK Factory]

Hi, My name is christine,and I am one of the owners of Futures Best Nursery Academy in Fort Lee.I would like to Let you know about our summer program. Each week has a " theme", for example our first week, July 5th-9th is western week. One day will be having square dance lessons another will be making a wagon and so forth. We also have picnic days and sprinkler days daily. Please feel free to call or stop by to see all the other creative and exciting things we have in store for our kids this summer.