Have I mentioned we’re in the egg business now? Well, not in the formal eggs-by-the-truck-full-from-a-barn-full-of-caged-chickens egg business, but rather the we-have-the-room-let’s-get-a-few-more-hens-and-sell-some-fresh-eggs egg business. What started out as five chickens as a project for the kiddos grew quickly with the addition of a new group of chicks this spring. The timing couldn’t have been better, the chicks arrived and were safely tucked away in the coop the week before the first bird flu case broke and eventually raged through the state of Iowa. (The kiddos learned about Biosecurity without even knowing it.)

Everybody Wants to Help at this Stage

While our set-up isn’t organic (that technically takes a full certification process) and our birds aren’t free range (it would be impossible to protect them from the predators in our area), we take a common sense approach to raising the hens. Simply put, we don’t feed them anything we wouldn’t want in our eggs. They also have plenty of room and a chance to get outside in a protected run where they feast on leftovers from the garden. As the California Dairy Ads used to say “Great milk comes from happy cows,” the same could be said about great eggs coming from happy hens.

Potato Boy Checking a Pullet

Though it’s grown from the five original hens, I’ll still say this has been a great experience for the kiddos as they’ve helped out as the chicks have matured and started laying. Sissy, Potato Boy and Lulu all started out uneasy around day-old chicks and now any of them can easily catch a hen when needed. (Peanut had no fear… until the first time she was pecked.) Plus, you know your egg is fresh when you have to wait for the hen to lay it before you can make breakfast.

Two dozen fresh eggs

In case you’re interested, we still have extra eggs available for $2.00 a dozen. Just get a hold of me or the DW for more information.