farm fresh

We now have hens. We are now consuming farm fresh, straight from the source, eggs, from our very own "free range" hens (look at me trying to use trendy farm words).  We let them roam around the property, pecking at the ground from dawn till dusk.

The chicks have to stay under a heating lamp until they are
about 6 weeks old.

We originally started with a dozen hens.  However, the day after we purchased the hens (from our neighbor) one of the boys...who shall not remain nameless: Truman, left the coop door ajar and the chickens ran like crazy.  It's hard to catch a chicken.  It's even harder to catch a chicken when you are pregnant, trust me.  I'm sure no one wants a visual picture of that scene.   We successfully caught 11 of the hens.  The one who got away is resting in peace in hen heaven.  It was "accidentally" shoved into a substantial amount of water by another boy who shall not remain nameless, Taede.  Needless to say, chickens cannot swim very well, if at all.  They soak up water like a sponge and when we went out in the morning to see if the hen had somehow manage to make it out alive...we discovered it afloat.  Sad but true.  We have recovered from this experience and even purchased some more chickens.  1 week old chicks to be precise.  They are super cute and hopefully in 6 or 7 months they will be egg producers too.  After all we need a couple dozen eggs a week for this crew.