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We sold our first half-dozen eggs yesterday! Not only can people come visit our backyard and meet the chickens from which their eggs came, but they can even use the handy dandy little chicken egg decoder to learn who laid which egg. Snazz, AMIRIGHT?!
And then I was thinking, is that too much information? Do people WANT to know which specific chicken laid their breakfast? *I* think it’s awesome… but then again, I’m a little weird.
Anyway, of course, as Chris said, “It will only take us NEVER” to actually turn a profit on these five little chicks, but that was never really the point.
The next chickens, though? Bring it. No darling freeloaders allowed!
Also, Christmas Eve = up early to tend to chickens and play with puppy. Feed chickens pumpkin and juicer pulp, purchase hay bale for the chickens in preparation for what may be a good winter storm Christmas night. Put together Christmas stocking for Chris. Sand and prime office walls (which we are in the midst of demolishing and making pretty again). Put turkey chili in the crock pot. Make Christmas playlist for tomorrow, then head to the liquor store and grocery store for very important stock replenishment. Block print more chicken egg cartons. Wait for boyfriend to get home to skim coat the office walls, eat chili, watch a Christmas movie, and share a fine bottle of Three Floyd’s Alpha Klaus.
This is my first year EVER not visiting family for Christmas, and I’m keen to start our own traditions. We will continue my family’s tradition of BAILEY’S IN THE COFFEE Christmas morning (a fine, fine tradition), and I think chili is a great addition, particularly since we may be snowbound soon enough. Tomorrow, I’ll make cinnamon rolls from scratch, and we’ve saved a number of our favorite Christmas movies to watch. I miss my family, but I’m also thankful to be relaxing with my honey, not worrying about the menagerie, and getting some big projects done.
I love that you have told people which chicken lays each egg. We talk about our chickens like they are family and I think it’s important to say “thanks ladies for the eggs” and give recognition where due. I think people think I’m a little weird too, but I’m OK with that. Great label.
Yes! You know what? If it’s a little weird, I don’t want to be normal.
I really think the answer to so many problems in this world is to shift your focus more locally. If I know where my eggs came from down to the hen that laid them, I tend to care a whole lot more about what I’m putting into my body and how those choices impact other living things. If I can visit the bison farm down the road where I get my burgers on any given day, I can see firsthand how animals are being treated and raised, and the farmer is accountable. Not to get too soap-boxy or anything.
I love your blog and reading about your chicks. I have been thinking of getting chickens myself, but I’m a little concerned about the responsibility. Merry Christmas to you and your boyfriend. I think you’re starting a swell tradition with the chili.
Thank you so much, and Merry Christmas to you, too! You know, the chickens are really not as much work as they may seem – more work than a cat, less than a dog. I do think our lives have changed since getting the chickens, though – just like with any other responsibility, suddenly you do have to consider vacations or time away a little more carefully. I don’t even notice the change most of the time since it just seems like they are part of our lives now. We have also found that people are genuinely interested in them, though, and interested in caring for them when we are away!
Don’t ever get down from your soap box! I love knowing that there’s other people out there who care about these kinds of issues. I’m with you – I think that sourcing our food locally is the only way forward and the only way out of the mess that is our modern food industry.
So many people think I’m a weirdo because of my food philosophy. I have friends who refuse to eat our eggs because sometimes some chicken poop gets on the shells, and they think it’s unsanitary. I’m not sure where they think grocery store eggs come from, but I can guarantee the conditions of a factory farmed egg are hundreds of times more unsanitary than my little backyard coop.
Also, Baileys in my morning coffee? Yes,please!
In that case, I’ll stay right up here – the view is nice! I witnessed a really interesting conversation online the other day that ranged from Tom’s shoes to fair trade coffee and how thinking the answer to our problems can be purchased (such as buying Tom’s shoes to help a child in Africa) is inherently wrong. Someone commented that they look at using their purchasing power based on what they DON’T buy, which I thought was an interesting distinction.
I do think, though, that using your dollars for good is important to think about – but for me, that doesn’t mean buying an overpriced pair of shoes from Tom’s. For me, that means removing middle men and putting money as directly into the pockets of the producer as possible, whether that be eggs from someone’s backyard or locally produced Christmas presents.
YAY, soap box! I love that there are like-minded people in this world, too. I’d like to think that conversations like these will continue happening amongst an ever-growing minority!