All Organic Eggs

One of the main reasons for building our chicken coop was to have our own fresh “real” organic eggs. This didn’t mean feeding our chickens corn products or other feeds from feed stores. Nope – we made our own chicken meal from scrap produce and day old bread. The chickens were crazy for it!

… and we reaped the rewards of having the freshest, sweetest eggs in the city!

One crack of our eggs and you can tell just in the shell that the eggs were sturdy and not thin, like store bought eggs. Since we also opted to feed our chickens a little bit of chicken shell back in their mix (ground fine of course)  this only bolstered the hardness of the shell by adding more protein into their system.

Making omelets, scrambled eggs and eggs every which way – our families and guests have really tasted the difference. They all claim the eggs are much creamier – maybe its due to no stress egg laying – we’re unsure as we are not scientists or doctors – but we have become really good farmers!

If you are interested in raising your own chickens, and it doesn’t take many – typically only one or two per family (and some people have more dogs and cats than that!), have a look at Dan Kennedy’s book on how to “Make Your Own Chicken Coop.” It was really easy and the videos were fun and inspirational to watch – not to mention educational!

There are hundreds of different designs available for your chicken coop but only one will fit your plot of land. If you’re looking to build a chicken coop the timing couldn’t be any better. With the onset of fall into winter, chickens will have an easier time acclimating themselves to their new roost. You in turn will get fresh eggs and save yourself a few dollars per week. As well, if your neighbors are like mine they are always banging on my door to “borrow” an egg or two. I also get the neighborhood kids that love to come and feed my girls. Most of you are wondering how I got started and some have even asked if I built the coop myself. The answer to both questions is a hearty “yes!”.

I saw a news report one afternoon about an egg producer in my state that had been reclaiming eggs, stamping new dates on the cardboard and placing old eggs into new containers. Looking in my fridge I realized I had purchased from this egg producer. Sickened I went online to find an alternative to buying from someone I didn’t know and was supposed to trust. I came upon a site selling plans to build a chicken coop and I actually passed on reading most of it as I didn’t think I could build my own chicken coop.

It wasn’t until the next day I began to get a batter together for our ladies auxiliary meeting. A simple cake to feed 20 women – no problem I can have a cake ready in a couple of hours.. when I reached for the egg container it hit me.

I couldn’t use the eggs I had on hand. Now what? Off to the store I went and purchased some organic eggs – claiming to be from free range chickens. I found out later what “free range” really meant. I could have saved myself a dollar buying factory eggs, and of course I could have saved myself $3.29 if I had my own chickens…  Anyhow – cake completed I was off to my meeting.

While at the meeting I was talking with another woman about the egg problem and she too confessed she always wanted a couple of chickens in the yard – but she didn’t have the first idea on how to do it. I told her I had seen a website offering tips and plans so we struck a deal. She would buy the chickens and feed if I would buy the manual and material to build a chicken coop.

More to report in the next blog about what we did to get started and the fiasco that ensued.