Getting back to your agrarian roots
An egg; proof that nature has considered all possibilities. There’s a certain pleasure in eating a fried egg. Conversely, there’s a certain terror involved in collecting that egg from its rightful owner. I remember…
My grandparents (both sides) kept hens. Went with rural life, when you couldn’t drop over to the nearest supermarket and add a dozen eggs to the cart. And any time I went to visit, there seemed to be a pressing need for me to go out to the coop and collect the bounty. In retrospect, they were probably laughing up their sleeves, having avoided the job for another day.
Hens are one tiny evolutionary notch above dinosaurs. For a child, they are almost as fascinating, and almost as dangerous. The peck on your cheek from an agressive Rhode Island Red isn’t something you forget, even with years of therapy. I, for one, take pleasure in no longer having to be a hunter/gatherer when it comes to eggs.
However, there are those who believe we should get back to our agrarian roots, by keeping poultry in the back yard. Forget free-ranging; hens require something larger than that patch of manicured greenery you call a lawn. How about your own coop? Amazon (among others) will sell you everything from a book of blueprints all the way up to a coop kit. Some assembly required.
The company website for Chickencribs.com shows great attention to detail, right down to a variety of sizes and paint jobs. It will be your responsibility to find your own hens (avoid the broody ones), decide on the right mix of grain and gravel, schedule regular movement of your new crib around your domain (to avoid over-fertilization of the new bare patches in the back yard) and harvest of your single egg each day. Finally, when the hen arrives at its end-of productivity date, you can decide how to serve that roast chicken dinner.
Seriously, with eggs available at less than $3/dozen, how long would you have to live to recuperate your investment?
