Chicken Gifts

When we started our little flock of chickens we really had no idea what to expect.  We got as prepared as we could and then we just took the plunge.  They seemed to take forever to grow up, except for the roosters.  They grew plenty fast.  We ended up with two roosters out of the origianl six chicks and had wanted to let chickens do what chickens do - which is to make more chickens.  Problem is when you have two roosters crowing at the crack of 3:00 am every morning you get a little annoyed.  Not to mention that one was getting a little rough with everyone.  So roosty number one became stew.  Now we were down to five chickens. 

The other thing about raising chickens from chicks it that it feels like you are just feeding them and they keep growing, but they never lay any eggs.  I kept counting the months since we got them trying to estimate how old they were and when they should start laying.  I've read that chickens will start laying anywhere from 4-7 months.  Our chickens were at least 6 months old when they finally started laying.  You couldn't imagine the amount of feed 5 growing chickens can consume in 6 months! 

I remember cracking the last carton of store bought eggs next to my homegrown eggs in a frying pan.  Once I saw the difference in the eggs I knew I could never go back to not having chickens.  Storebought yolk are pale and runny and they lie flat in the pan.  Homegrown eggs have a rich orange yolk that stands up tall and cooks up firm.  Nothing beats the taste of a fresh homegrown egg!

Now when I can't keep up with eating the eggs I also have the option of selling the extras (though with only 4 chickens there aren't many extras).  Finally my chickens were earning their keep.  Who knew that poultry could be the pet that actually earns it's keep?