Food for Thought

Back in March 2011, I acquired the cutest little chicks. I had been thinking about getting chickens for some time, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to do it. Anyone who has experienced a brush with death, however, knows that wherewithal comes all of a sudden from nowhere. Life simply seems worth the effort to do everything you dream or wish for, so I got the chicks. They cost about $3 a piece at the local feed store, and like any novice, I thought it would be easy and cheap. Plus it is so trendy to have your own backyard, free-range egg layers.

At first they were adorable, but that only lasts for about two weeks, and then they look awkward for quiet awhile. That is, until they become pullets (adolescent hens with all of their adult feathers). That’s when their flight feathers need to be clipped, because like owning a poorly trained puppy, they get into everything. They eat everything in the garden except for pungent shrubby bushes; they scratch the ground everywhere and dig up things like strawberries or any other seedling they can find. And they poop! Everywhere. That’s why they need to be kept in the coop. Poop and predators, but that’s another story.

Popular slang phrases start becoming interesting and begin to make sense… hen pecked… flew the coop… cleaned the sh out of it… running around like a chicken with your head cut off, come to mind. These phrases start to be observable actions, although I can’t say that I’ve seen a chicken with their head cut off. I have seen them unearth a worm, prance around dangle it like a prize, and then get chased around for over five minutes until it seems like they’ve all forgotten why they are running because oftentimes the worm doesn’t even get consumed. They are MEAN to each other, and to cats and other pesky rodents. They peck HARD, and sometimes they tenaciously defend themselves quite successfully. I have seen them peck a snake to death, and I have heard that chickens will play the same worm game on smaller snakes too.

Then they begin to lay those “golden” eggs! Backyard free-range eggs are particularly good. Just like a garden fresh tomato, they taste uniquely different from the ones in the store. They have the same flavor, only more so. The shells are super hard, there’s more white, and the yolks are smaller and a neon orange color. They are simply delicious any way they are prepared. They rise better when used in baking and scrambled they fluff brilliantly. In our case, the eggs began coming in August. They came steadily, about four a day, until January, but from that point forward, it became a new game.

When they begin to lay, they are considered full grown, and they become a little more high maintenance, probably because after getting a large quantity of their little gems, it becomes almost an obsession to get more. Guess what? They don’t lay them in the winter, and they don’t lay them when they are cold, and they don’t lay them when they are stressed. They also don’t lay them when they’re undernourished, or when they're sick, or when they don’t have enough places to hide. And lastly, they don't lay eggs when they're molting – which they do every year in the Fall after the first year. 

Then Spring comes, and the dry spell is over. There is a reason we call them “Easter Eggs.” The hens lay so many eggs in Spring that eggs may be found on the ground hidden under bushes, chairs, baskets, or corners of the coop. One time there was an egg stuck to back of my hen. I had to pull it out. That is actually a way they can get sick, if they get blocked up. Again, another story. Just know Spring is the best time for eggs and chicks.

My opinions about possessing egg laying backyard hens have changed many times since the birds were first acquired. Now I have a new opinion, and it is probably very controversial, but here goes. I think chicks were meant to be acquired in the Spring to watch them grow, because it’s something no “child” will ever forget. It’s truly awe-inspiring. Next enjoy the eggs because they come really good the first year. After that they molt (loose their feathers). I believe this is when they should be eaten. They don't even require plucking. Finally, rest up for Spring, and then go back to the local feed store, and pick up four new chicks (if your town allows a Rooster, you may get to skip this step). My way you get the fun AND the flavor.

 

The bottom line: Adult chickens are not as productive in the egg laying process as one may think.