The $500 Egg

My good friend ordered a straight run (not sexed prior to shipping) of 25 chicks last summer.  She wanted to keep approximately 6 hens for herself and give away the rest to anyone interested.  I willingly agreed to take 6 chicks myself and hope that at least 4 turned out to be hens.  My husband and I had talked about getting chickens so he was on board with the idea.  Years earlier, he had built me a small shop/barn where I ran a small herb business.  Since we no longer used the shop for the business, I knew it would be a great space for creating a coop.

When the chicks arrived, I knew I had to get my husband going on building the coop so that when they were big enough to go outside, it would be ready.  Little did he know how much money we (ok, he) would spend on wood and materials, etc.  Little did he know as well, that the first egg wouldn't come for months.  But, $500 and a few weeks later, the coop was finished just in time for the chicks to move in.  Turns out, however, I only had 2 hens and 4 roosters!  We were not interested in keeping roosters so I gave 2 of them to my nephew who shows different breeds in the fall at the local fair and my friend took the other 2 to a free-range farm where they would live a happy (albeit probably short) life.  Meantime, my friend ended up with a few too many hens, so we did some swapping and trading and I ended up with 4 hens, Berniece, Louise, Sylvia and Sara (named after our grandmother's).

The $500 Egg

Raising "the girls" has become one of my favorite new pastimes.   They have the funniest personalities, are hysterical to watch, and best of all, supply my family with fresh eggs which we love!  Oh, and the first egg?  It came on Jan 25th.  Naturally, we let my husband eat it.  I think it was the best egg he ever ate.  For $500, it better be the best right?

A~