Tag Archives: chickens

A Chicken for Every Kid

25 Apr

If I run for president someday perhaps my slogan will be, “A Chicken For Every Kid.”  (kinda like the 1928 slogan of Herbert Hoover of “A Chicken in Every Pot”)  Maybe not.  But seriously I LOVE having chickens and they are so so good for kids.  I will tell you why every kid needs a chicken or two:

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1.  They are fun to have around.  A constant source of fun right outside your front door

2.  Chickens teach responsibility.  If you don’t check the coup a few times a day, the eggs will get cracked or eaten.  And a couple times a week they need new water and feed.

3.  Chasing chickens is a great workout, running around the yard trying to catch your favorite hen is quite tiresome and exciting.

4.  Chickens are entertaining, whether the kids are chasing them or they are just pecking around the yard they are fun to watch.  Hudson often stands at the window making squawking sounds as the chickens scratch around in the yard.

5. Chickens are hearty, I am in no way worried about the kids hurting the chickens.  They can wrangle them and rough around with them and the hens will be just fine- beside maybe not laying for a day or two

6. Chickens are fun to name, we currently have 13 hens,3 old ladies who are destined for the pot– Spider, Fluffy, Ellen, 3 banties- Merida, Fancy, Spike. And seven others, Torrealba, Pecker, Cindy Lou Who, Star, Cardinal, Raccoony, and Chick Chick.

7.  They are photogenic, the kids are proud when they catch a chicken so they are more inclined to smile for a cute picture

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8.  Chicken eggs are delicious, homegrown hen eggs are one of the most delicious thing you can possibly eat, what better way for a kid to start their day then a golden orange scrambled egg?  This is the most we have ever had!

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So there, get some chickens, and vote me for president while you are at it =)

 

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Eggs!

21 Oct

Yeah, I have been blog slacking.

When it comes down to getting my laundry done, going to bed sorta early or playing Uno with the kids I have chose the former instead of blogging.  My apologies to you poor people who check in every day only to see the same lame picture of bread for the past two weeks.  Sorry!  =)

Back to the exciting egg news-

WE HAVE EGGS!!!!  The three older chickens are heading out of their molting time (evidently hens don’t lay when they are molting- this is a learning experience) and the young seven are mature enough to start producing.   As the snow started to fly, Jared and the girls headed out to check on the chickens.

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It is a pretty incredible feeling to head out to your yard and then return a few minutes later with a handful of eggs for your breakfast.  Jared and I only got a few bites since the girlies were demanding more and more deliciousness.  Hopefully soon we will have too many eggs to handle.  What a wonderful problem to have!

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The two eggs on the bottom of the picture are from our young hens and the big one on top is from an older hen.

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Thanks for breakfast!

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Chickens!

11 Aug

The chickens have arrived

and so

we have arrived.

Ever since my sister’s boyfriend (now husband) brought over some of his family’s farm fresh eggs to our tiny Bethel Seminary apartment, I have been hooked.

I felt like I had not eaten an egg since that spring day in 2010.  Both Jared and I were amazed by the orange gold glow the eggs gave off and their buttery taste.  After that first farm fresh fried egg we knew that one day we had to own some hens of our own.

In the afternoon of August eighth our dreams became a reality.  Well, kind of.  They are at least a month or so away from laying eggs.  They were born in April and I guess they don’t start laying until they are about 17 weeks old.  Darn.

Jared spent about three days building the chickens’ coop.  He spent Sunday (afternoon until evening)  and then Monday building.  And then right after he got done with work on Tuesday and Wednesday he set outside to building.  I usually have a problem with him being busy for that long but the chickens had a deadline and he got it finished by Thursday afternoon.

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And the girls enjoyed “helping” Jared.  One time Sophi ran in at top speed to go to the bathroom announcing that they were working REALLY hard out there.  She had her shirt off to match Jared who (of course) also had his shirt off.

We checked on them last night and they were peacefully roosting on a ladder Jared built and looked quite at home.

Each of the eight will be carefully named and very loved by the girls.  They have already mastered the art of sneaking behind the wandering hens and scooping them up.

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Welcome to our eight little hens, we can’t wait until we can taste the first eggs.

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