Bad Attitude Farm & Forge LLC

If a year ago you had asked me about eggs, I would have told you I buy them at the grocery store.  The only time I can remember being excited about eggs is at 3:00 AM when I find one of the all night breakfast places after a long drive.  So when I took to raising chickens, I never imagined being excited about the laying of eggs.  I was so wrong.  There is something different about eggs that come from the coop.  Yes, they are brown and that is a bit different.  But the real difference is that I raised these hens from chicks.  I know they have been treated humanly.  In fact, we’ve even learned they have favorites.

Two Eggs One Day

Above: A picture of me and the two eggs.  Sorry, too hot for a shirt.

I was away the other day helping a friend with this and that.  One hen had been laying an egg a day, so my wife went out to check for eggs.  Like the day before, there was one ready for the refrigerator.  As she bent down to retrieve the egg, mama hen opened my wife’s finger with a sharp peck.  My brother was in town for a visit, so he lent her a hand.  As he bent over to retrieve the egg, our rooster rammed him in the rear of his legs with enough force that he almost lost his footing.  Evidently Monster Chicken (our rooster’s name) thinks he is a goat.

This morning, I went to check for eggs.  I pet Monster Chicken and shoed a few hens with no problem.  One of the hens did look at me with a bit of a glare, but she didn’t try to peck me at all.  Instead, she followed me with her eyes, then climbed a perch to get a better look as I left the coop.  Aimee warned me as I pet the hen on the way out.  Not a single attempt at pecking me, but she did look ready.

I think that like the goats, the chicken have accepted me as part of their family.  It is more than just being the person who brings them food and water.  I have been there at least twice a day every day of their lives.  As chicks, they sat in my lap as I hand fed them.  Had to stop that when their beaks developed into weapons.

I had a happy surprise, two eggs in the chicken coop.  Ok, two eggs is nothing to brag about when you have ten hens but this is about a month before they are supposed to start producing.  The rooster is still living with the chickens.  He is a randy little cock with a harem of nine.  We have read that if the rooster is in the same coop as the hens, that eggs will only last a week or so, so he is going to have to move out in a bit.  Close enough to stimulate egg production, but not so close that he can mount his hens.

Yes, I did say “his hens”.  The chickens seem kin to lions in the way they mate.  He is king of the coop.  He protects them without fault, puffing up and standing between them and anything thought to be a threat.  It is amazing to watch the interactions.