The Miraculous Chicken! 3/13/20

We just love our chickens here on the ranch- they are a fun project for our little ones to help with, they’re docile (usually), easy to feed and water, and they provide us and a few clients with farm fresh eggs. Our daughter, Brianna, will even be showing a couple at the UP State Fair this year!

Right now we have 17 hens and also a rooster because he. is. beautiful. I love looking in the coop to see them going on about their day, clucking and squawking at each other. I wonder what the heck they are talking about?

We thought we would share a few #farmfacts about chickens with you today!

Did you know?

• One chicken produces 47.5 lbs of manure annually. So for our little flock, we scoop 807.5 lbs of poop out of the coop! I was a poet…
• Gestation of a chick is 21 days. As the chick grows inside the egg, it uses the egg yolk for nutrition, and its mother will turn the egg every so often to assist chick development.
• Hens that are not exposed to a rooster still lay eggs. No rooster necessary! (but the boys are beautiful)
• Fertilized eggs taste and look almost exactly the same as non-fertilized eggs. You can tell they are fertilized by a very faint white dot in the yolk. That’s it! No difference.
• A group of eggs is called a ‘clutch.’
• Typical clutches are 6-8 eggs, but can reach numbers into the teens and still be successfully hatched.
• Chickens that are free ranged will typically return to their coop at night, which is great because they can be better protected from predators.
• Hens start laying eggs at 4 1/2- 6 mos. of age and lay until they are about six years old, though their production does decrease as they age, peaking at around 18-24 mos.
• Egg Nutritional Value: 70 Calories, 5g Fat (1.5g Sat), 185 mg Cholesterol, 70 mg Sodium, 0 Carbs, 0 Fiber, 0 Sugar, 6g protein, 1mcg Vit D (6% DV), 30mg calcium (2% DV), .9mg Iron (4% DV), 70mg Potassium. (Click for source data)
• Are free range/cage free/organic/insert buzz word here, eggs healthier? You can find research and articles that support just about any belief here. I think ours are the best! ?
• We STILL have no idea what came first, the chicken or the egg ?
• We STILL have no idea why the chicken crossed the road. ?

That’s it! Go fry an egg…

Luke 13:34

[34] …How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!