Gathered in their own little basket, I love to sit them on the counter, and just look.
They can sit for days like that, as long as it isn't summer, and I don't have to wash them until I have
time to nestle them within their little cartons.
Eggs are a wonder of nature, for many reasons. They are contained safely within their cellular
structure for several weeks while remaining alive. A big bonus for city dwellers is that you can keep a
nice little handful of chickens easily with a portable coop, and you don't have to own a rooster for the
hens to lay. When you decide to incubate(if you have a rooster, the eggs will be viable), you may
collect the eggs for up to ten days before they must go inside.
When cleaned by hand with a moist paper towel, the eggs don't absorb much water, and retain their
firmness, with lovely deep gold yolks. The taste is superb, and the dishes made with them fluffy, with
a nice springy texture.
I always keep one or two roosters in my coop, so most of eggs are alive, and my hens very productive, as they are sexually active. Roosters also add a calmness to the coop, as they oversee the pecking order, and are always on the lookout for predators. When the rooster finds a tasty bug or treat, he immediately calls over his girls so that they can have first dibs. He is very protective of the eggs and henhouse, as well, and will do his best to protect all in his care.
Contrary to popular belief, the roosters will not eat the chicks, if the environment of the henhouse safe, clean, and there is enough to eat. I have had up to three roosters at a time covering forty hens, and the roosters will call to the chicks, and give them food.
The hens are very protective, and, in time they will introduce the flock to the biddies, when they feel everyone has had a chance to see and smell them, but not get too close. She is a loving mother, and the biddies sit on her, poke out of her feathers, and peck at her until they are too big to do so. She is very tolerant, and will fight as hard as she can to save her brood if she thinks she has a chance.
I believe the roosters know their own chicks, and have seen never had a rooster try to attack or eat his own. The only early deaths I've seen in six years was when I bought some young ones, and when I introduced them to the flock, the rooster did not recognize them, and tried to cover them at too early an age. After the first one was killed, it did not happen again. There was great sorrow and quiet among the flock the entire day.
(Can you spot the chick?)
Every night I check on my flock, making sure they are closed up and accounted for, and I talk to them each by name. They will cluck back at me, especially the rooster, who makes sure it is me coming in the henhouse at night. I thank them for their eggs, and also do energy work on them when I can.
The result, is a lovely, vibrant egg that some peole say makes them feel better and happier after eating our eggs.
Besides the benefit of eating vibrant, healthy meat, let's look at other positives of buying from the farm or owning poultry -
- hens can move about, eating a wide variety of healthy groceries, and undergo less stress than from being all heaped up together, with their beaks cut off, and not able to have any exercise or fresh air;
- hens have a nesting box or space away from others to lay their eggs in private, which also gives more health and less stress to both hen and egg;
- there is much less disease;
- very few antibiotics, if any are used, which means a higher grade product for you and your children
- eggs in the store are over four months old before they even get there. They roll down wet conveyer belts, and the live egg tissue absorbs the nasty water inside, which is evidenced by the thin, runny whites when you cook. Farm eggs are usually only a week old in the produce stand, at most.
- you are supporting local business and helping to keep farm produce in your neighborhood, as well as giving kids a chance to earn a small income and learn about raising their own flock.
I have put much of this mildly, but you get the point. If at all possible, you should try raising some chickens yourself. Watching them becomes a meditation, and children love to hold and tame their
flock. The chickens will follow you around, as well, coming to the windows looking for you, (and
your table scraps) and offer a meditative repose when things aren't going well. There's nothing like
just sitting, listening to the flock go about their routine, methodically scratching, pecking and
chasing insects and each other. It helps me to get inside myself, and to find an anchor in an ever-
changing world. Just like magic.
Let Astila help you find magic and renewed sense of purpose in your life, www.thecreatordeems.yolasite.com
