Oh those eggs!

As I mentioned previously, our "birds" live in style.  Whenever possible, our chickens, turkeys and other birds are allowed to free range.  It's just healthier for them to do so and - OH - those eggs!  No other egg can compare to a free range egg!  At the beginning of this year my son and daughter in law's home burned to the ground.  They along with my 10 month old granddaughter had to move in with us while they adjusted, regrouped and found another home.  They were here for about three months.  During this time, I cooked breakfast each and every day as I always do.  We normally have either bacon or sausage and toast, but we always have fresh eggs!  With our 400 or so "friends", we normally have no shortage of fresh free range eggs.  My grand baby LOVED the scrambled eggs.  She was just beginning to really eat some table food and the eggs were a great transitional food for her.  Eventually, they bought a home and moved.  My daughter in law called one day to tell me that they needed some of our eggs.  It seemed our granddaughter didn't like the eggs sold in the grocery store.  You know you are on to something when a one year old can discern between eggs sold in a store and free range eggs.  To this day, I keep my granddaughter a couple of days a week.  She comes early in the morning because her mommy is a nurse and has to go in very early.  I still cook breakfast every day and she knows that there will be eggs for her!  Needless to say, our birds still free range whenever possible.  If you have a chance to buy genuine free range eggs from a farmer, don't miss the opportunity!  You will not only help a local farmer, but - OH - those eggs!

Chickens, Who Knew?

I thought that raising chickens meant that you get some chickens and turn them loose and just feed them.  Then you just go gather up the eggs and - Voila - breakfast!  Boy was I naive!  Another surprise is that each chicken has it's own distinct personality.  Yes, I said personality!  Who knew?  Our brilliant idea of getting a few chickens to lay eggs and be eaten on occassion has grown into 203 Serama, 8 Phoenix, 53 Belgian Malines, 12 Jubilee Orpingtons, 8 Silver Laced Orpingtons, 12 Bantam Cochins, 4 Peafowl, 3 Ringneck Pheasants, 2 Lady Amherst Pheasants, 2 Chuckars, 13 Eastern Wild Turkeys, 6 Guineas (various colors), and a Partridge in a pear tree (not really), but 15 Silver Appleyard Ducks.  So much for just eggs and meat!  We own turkeys and guess what was for Thanksgiving dinner - you guessed it - HAM!  We now own around 400 new friends that we feed special (proprietary blend) feed so they stay happy and healthy.  We constantly build new pens and housing so they are warm or cool and dry!  We are not talking ratty old chicken pens either.  Our birds live in style.  I'm not sure how this all happened!  It's become somewhat of a blur!  I just know that they get the better part of each day and we have built in therapy!