« A wardrobe weeding that even I was scared to do | Home | On gender roles — or why I’m not a housewife »
I could keep buying eggs, but…
By Meg | June 24, 2008
I could keep buying eggs at the grocery store like a “normal” person, but then I wouldn’t have such a great excuse to raise these cuties.
Unfortunately, due to zoning we can only keep two, and only girls. We got four chicks, though, to up our odds of getting at least two girls since we didn’t have a professional chicken sexer on hand. The other two will have to go back from whence they came, while the two girls will grow up lay eggs in the Taj Mahal of chicken coops.
I’m trying not to play favorites, since I don’t want to get overly attached to a potential boy. However, this one has been my favorite since she stood out from the chickie flock when I went to pick out the chicks with my husband:
Her name is Chloe — unless she turns out to be a he. And the other girl we keep will probably be named Cleo.
Whenever I try to calculate how long it’ll take to make up the cost of our over-engineered chicken coop in egg savings, my eyes cross — though it gets better when we consider the cost of buying eggs from places where the chickens would be treated just as humanely as here. Fortunately, we can supplement their feed with all sorts of treats from around our yard and garden, and for some people who don’t spend so much on building materials or who can have more than two hens, having them may actually be frugal. As for us, we’ll be happy if they’re cheap pets. Compared to our cats, they’re a steal — though they’re all worth the expense.
Tags: Food, Green Living, Home & Garden, Saving Money
Related Posts:
June 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Your own chickens for fresh eggs!!! That is so cool!
June 28th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Oh! I’ve wanted chickens for a long time. I can’t wait to see how this goes for you. I hope you’ll be posting more photos and egg reports, too! :)
June 30th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Hi Penny and Label Ho!
Yeah, I think it’s pretty nifty, too. They’re so cute, though their box gets stinky ’cause they’re little poop machines. It’ll be nice when they can go outside. Right now they’re in a back room which, oddly enough, also doubles as my video studio. (I have to move them to the foyer during filming, otherwise they cheep too loudly.)
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:43 am
Everytime I eat eggs I can’t help but think “this is an almost chicken”. It freaks me the hell out. I can’t help but think that the yoke is it’s brain or feathers or something.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I don’t blame you, Joe! I don’t have a problem eating chickens (so long as I don’t raise them). However, I can’t eat eggs if there is a visible yolk and white. I have to have them scrambled up or added to something. I don’t think it’s about the chicky parts, though. After all, they aren’t fertilized.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
They’re so dahlink. Congrats! How I miss having chicks…
July 9th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Thanks, Tarah! They are cuties. Looks like we’ll have at least one rooster — as expected — but Chloe there still appears to be a little girl. They’re growing so fast, though. I go out each day and they look bigger every time.