Mail-Order Chicks!

~Photo by Nancy

"I do so like Green Eggs and Ham!"

It's that time of year again and the farmers are getting ready to order their chickens. The serious ones just start hatching new chicks from their current flock. Everyone else orders their chickies from a hatchery like Murray McMurray or Privett and ship them. One can also order them from the local Feed Store, but they're more expensive.

We were pretty new to all this last year, so we just sat back and watched the rest of the town; we observed and learned. THIS year, we are ready to place our orders and begin our family chicken farm. We are excited for a few reasons. One of which is knowing where our poultry and eggs are coming from, what they're being fed, and what's (not) being pumped into them in order to produce more (remember my history with the Pituitary...I'm a little sensitive about "Growth Hormones"). I've heard arguments both ways concerning Growth Hormone in Poultry and Dairy, but I'm willing to make an effort to "just play it safe," you know?

I've even made a deal with a friend: He will get fresh eggs in exchange for slaughtering some chickens every couple of months, cleaning them, and dropping them into our deep freezer. (I won't be able to stomach that myself...let's just be honest.)

So as we have scanned through the McMurray online catalog, we have decided what our order will consist of (follow the links for more information):

An assortment of Brown Egg-Laying Hens

Americanas (for green and blue eggs)

Guineas (to keep the bugs away)

Ducks (use the eggs for baking and the bird for Christmas dinner)

Geese (just for fun...that's all)

Turkeys (for Thanksgiving, of course!)

Cornish Rocks or White Leghorns (they make the best roasters)

I'm also planning on being "one of those" who hatches more chicks from the current flock.

Wish me luck!

Myth-Buster:

I noticed in the supermarket that the "Organic Free Range" eggs are brown and in clear plastic containers (so you can see how brown they are). Before I moved to the farm I thought that meant they were healthier.  NOT SO!  Studies have proven there is NO nutritional difference between the colors of the eggs. The truth is that some hens lay white eggs, some lay brown, and some lay green and blue.  All can be Free Range and Organic, but the color is NOT the indicator.

*The above Photo is of ACTUAL fresh barnyard eggs (from our neighbor) on my kitchen counter. Yes, that one is a REAL green egg.