Eggcellent

When we purchased our chicks last March we had no idea that eggs would become so expensive in less than a year. 

When you purchase baby chicks they require some special care before they are ready to be let out on their own. We raised ours in a large card board box in our library. We used a special heat lamp to keep them warm, and fed them specialty food crumbles for growing chicks. 

When they were ready to be moved outdoors we purchased a large dog kennel and three laying boxes for the eggs. We attached a tarp to help keep off the intense midday sun. The coop was sufficient, but not 100% ideal. 

One day when I returned home I saw a chicken pecking around in the backyard. I scooped her up and returned to the coop wondering how she escaped. It was then that I realized that another chicken was missing. Sadly, I found a pile of feathers at the back corner of the coop. 

I’m not sure who the predator was, but I’m thinking it must have been able to grasp to pull two chickens through a small gap in the kennel. We quickly reinforced the corners with wire netting, and Chuck put up a chicken yard fence around the coop. This way the “girls” as we like to call them, could have an area to roam for a portion of the day. Being city folks we supervised their free time each evening as we sat out in the chicken yard coaxing them to eat scratch from our hands. 

As time went by Chuck decided that he was going to build the girls a new home. He wanted them to have more room to stretch their wings, and a safer place to roost at at night. Over the Christmas holiday he built a really awesome coop. 

The other day I was at Walmart and for the first time I checked out the cost of eggs. Needless to say I was quite shocked. I had been hearing on the news about the outrageous prices, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. I struck up a conversation with a woman who was purchasing eggs, and mentioned that we had chickens. She pointed out the fact that chicken feed had gone up in price, and those eggs were probably going to be costing more as well. 

As I thought about it thinking that having chickens gives you “free” eggs is probably illogical. There definitely is a cost to owning chickens, between shelter and feed. However, we have enjoyed the quality of the delicious eggs our girls have provided us, and we have been happy to share eggs with family and friends.