Last week J met a really interesting guy who sold him another rototiller.\u00a0 (More on that later.\u00a0 It was a very smart purchase, even if my garage does now look like a John Deere accessories dealership.)\u00a0 Somehow the conversation turned to chickens, a topic that gets kicked around my house occasionally.\u00a0 This guy had been doing a lot of research on chickens and told J a lot of what he’d learned.\u00a0 Apparently his family had decided on Dominique chickens because they are less agressive than other breeds, produce more eggs, etc.\u00a0 What really intrigued J, however, is the fact that chickens are known for their voracious consumption of bugs, and deer ticks in particular.\u00a0 I hate deer ticks.\u00a0 I may or may not have chronic Lyme disease, but I definitely have a deep hatred for deer ticks and their propensity to carry Lyme.\u00a0 I’m just not sure I hate the ticks enough to agree to get chickens.<\/p>\n
I like the idea of chickens in theory, but the practical application of them could be a nightmare.\u00a0 One, we have two free-range cats that live next door (Max and Lily) who spend a lot of time in our yard.\u00a0 Two, you have to clean up after chickens, and I’m just not sure I want to get involved in that.\u00a0 Three, who will tend to the chickens if we’re away?\u00a0 Somehow I cannot see my mother doing this.\u00a0 And we have a house sitter that we love, but she has a somewhat unreliable schedule and often isn’t there every night.\u00a0 You are supposed to collect eggs twice a day, never mind make sure the chickens have food and water.\u00a0 Fourth, I don’t see myself being enthusiastic about going out to the coop to collect those eggs and manage the chickens\u00a0twice a day in the dead of winter, or especially not when there’s a snowstorm, as there was every three days for about\u00a0two months this winter.\u00a0 Finally, hens get old and must be dispatched.\u00a0 Would we really feel comfortable butchering and eating something that we had raised?\u00a0 <\/p>\n
On Saturday my equally-agressive-gardener cousin J dropped by and announced she wanted to get chickens.\u00a0 I think our fresh egg problem has just been solved.\u00a0 I can drive two towns over and pick up eggs every few weeks, and she can deal with the twice-a-day egg collection, mess and neighborhood menaces.\u00a0 She can handle anything, she has three children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week J met a really interesting guy who sold him another rototiller.\u00a0 (More on that later.\u00a0 It was a very smart purchase, even if my garage does now look like a John Deere accessories dealership.)\u00a0 Somehow the conversation turned to chickens, a topic that gets kicked around my house occasionally.\u00a0 This guy had been … Continue reading Brown eggs are local eggs….<\/span>