Chickens and Eggs

I am not a farm girl. I have never been a farm girl. My mother was a farm girl, but prefers not to discuss it. As a result I am fairly clueless about farm animals. I know eggs come from chickens, and vice versa, but that’s about the sum of my poultry knowledge. It’s quite embarrassing really. I find myself spending far too much time in the supermarket’s dairy aisle trying to decide what the description on the egg carton really means. Should I go with free-range, or free-run, or organic? Does the producer's interpretation of these terms match my interpretation? Am I really buying eggs that are best for me, the environment and the chicken? How on earth do I know? I’ll tell you how I know. I’ve recently stopped buying eggs at the supermarket and have started buying them directly from the farm. In fact, I've had the good fortune of meeting the chickens that provide my eggs, as I know their 10-year-old owner.

This young farm girl has been quite patient in answering my questions about her chickens, and even allowed me to take a few photos for the blog. My list of questions and her answers are below.

What do you feed your chickens? 16% layer pellets. I feed them two 40kg bags a week plus all our house scraps (but no meat)

How many chickens do you have? 43 chickens

What are you saving your money for? What have you used the money for so far? I don't know what I am saving for. I am just saving. I only use the money for chicken feed.

How many eggs do you get each week? I get 26 to 30 eggs each day.

Don't you sell some of your eggs to a restaurant? Where do the rest go? 10 to 12 dozen go to the restaurant. The rest go to customers.

Other than feeding them, what else do you have to do to look after chickens? Change their water, clean the coop, give them fresh nest hay, put them in each night and cover the food so no animals get the food and close their door so they’re safe.

Can you imagine getting this kind of service or knowledge at the grocery store? I emailed the questions to her and had an answer the same day. She even took the trouble to answer my follow-up question in a timely manner. (Apparently a layer pellet is “is kinda like grain but it is a little thicker and for chickens.”) I was impressed, but this girl really cares about her chickens, and that’s what will keep me coming back. Remember those ads that promoted milk from contented cows? Well, I know these eggs are coming from happy, well cared for chickens, and being able to support this local, responsible farmer makes me happy too.