Perverse...but tasty!
Posted on 10/30/2017 7:05:29 AM PDT by SandRat
The ups and downs of country living can be challenging and entertaining.
You can get down and dirty, mucking around with chicken poop cleanup and other related fun. Or, you can be a country squire, enjoy the shelled emissions of said chickens without actual direct contact.
This writer shuns interaction with the chickens, proclaiming herself a country squire. What she did not count on, but should have, was her filter-free, sassy daughter’s comment. “Mother, a country squire is a male landowner or a gentleman who escorts a woman.”
“Well then, I’m the lady of the manor,” her mother huffed. “In either case, the only time I enjoy playing in the dirt is in my flower garden.”
Folks claim that chicken falls in the healthy food category, but aside from the surface flavoring on a cooked chicken, the internal taste is too bland for this lady of the manor. Consequently, the only part of said fowl she enjoys eating are the eggs.
Hubby has 40 chickens, five of them are roosters. Part of the reason for the abundance of roosters is Hubby’s impatience. He ordered Ameraucana because they lay blue eggs and Rhode Island Reds because they lay brown eggs. However, the chicken coop was ready for feathered occupation.
So, Hubby went to a local farm supply store and bought ten chicks of unknown breed and gender. By the time the shipped chickens and the can’t-wait-that-long chicks reached an age where their sex could be determined, he ended up with five roosters of various lineage.
Before the young roosters hit puberty, their early vocalizing attempts sounded more like a creaky door hinge that crowing. Fortunately, our house is well-insulated, and we do not hear the buggers carrying on, but outdoors is another matter.
Have you ever wondered why roosters crow? Hubby’s answer: They are trying to attract a hen. With 30-something hens and five roosters, that should not be a problem. A personal theory: The rooster crows after the act, a celebration of a job well done (the fowl version of chest-beating).
Whenever we approach the chicken coop, all the inmates stop whatever they were doing and come to see what treats or offerings we bring. Sometimes as a treat we toss them scratch (a scattering of various grains), or we refill their feeder, but other times we go to collect eggs. Whatever the reason for our visit, it turns out that fowl are curious creatures. Too bad there is no YouTube to keep them entertained when the humans are not around. After all, there are cable networks dedicated to infant viewership. Why not for farm critters?
Due to the mix of unknown breeds living in the coop, the eggs are brown, beige (or taupe if you want to be fancy), white and blue. At this point, the brown eggs are most abundant. As more hens come of age, the egg production increases. If you want eggs, we will be happy to email them to you.
Hubby often finds empty egg shells or partially broken eggs on the floor or in the nests. It seems one of the roosters developed a taste for fresh eggs. Could the cannibal rooster be suffering from too many rejections and is retaliating? Do we need to hire a rooster shrink? Cannibalism among chickens is a new wrinkle in the lady of the manor’s fowl learning curve. She assumed the practice was more for isolated island humans or crocodiles. Oh well, we learn something new each day.
Hubby suggested we kill a few of the roosters and eat them. Feel free to imagine the countless languages in which the lady shrieked “no.”
Following collection of the cackleberries (Hubby’s term), the lady of the manor washes them before refrigeration. Yes, if the eggs are unwashed, they will last several weeks on the counter. However, if you think about the fact that those cackleberries are large, shell-covered excretions, then you know this writer will not tolerate boxes of poop on her kitchen counters, shells notwithstanding.
In the future, should the lady of the manor attempt to collect eggs or attend to the cluckers’ other needs, she will wear disposable gloves and perhaps a mask.
Silliness. Exposure to mild assaults (chicken poop) is GOOD for the immune system. Unless your chickens are from China, there is not much to worry about. Best fate for roosters......chicken gumbo....NOT bland.
She may have chickens, but knows nothing about them.
1: The rooster has nothing to do with the color of the egg, that’s all the chicken laying it.
2: There are music channels for farmers. Really
3: Layers will eat any egg accidentally broken, and some hens do develop a taste for eggs.
4: If she’s squeamish about where eggs come from, does she consume any milk product?
Oh yeah, Hubby is right about the roosters, they should eat all of them. You don’t need roosters for eggs unless you want to have a brooding hen or two for your own chicks.
Chickens have amazing eyesight and facial recognition - they not only know what's being brought, but who's doing the bringing.
They're OK with the two regular feral cats that hang around, but if a stranger cat comes they make a wicked racket. Same for people.
When we put the two back with the flock,,,the hen would hump the other chickens...one time the rooster caught them in the act and humped the both of them.
It amazes me how many grown adults with college degrees are baffled by this - did they never take Biology 101?
Roosters are not a good-neighbor policy in a suburban coop - agree on eating them.
(Plans are to barter for a rooster when the SHTF to keep the chicks coming).
The late Huey Long stopped at a New Orleans deli for lunch.
“Governor, how about a nice beef tongue on rye sandwich?”
“Heck’s fire, you think I’m gonna eat what came out of some animal’s mouth!? You go fry me a couple eggs.”
;^)
There is a reason for the term “egg on the face”.
First, put more straw in the laying boxes, second add oyster shell to the diet, third make dinner from egg faces.
All ya’all crack me up.
FRANK: Let me understand, you got the hen, the chicken and the rooster. The rooster goes with the chicken. So, who’s having sex with the hen?
GEORGE: Why don’t we talk about it another time.
FRANK: But you see my point here? You only hear of a hen, a rooster and a chicken. Something’s missing!
MRS. ROSS: Something’s missing all right.
MR. ROSS: They’re all chickens. The rooster has sex with all of them.
FRANK: That’s perverse.
Perverse...but tasty!
Needs oregano, butter and parmesan cheese!
Croon to them when young.
Put the 5 roosters in the freezer. The eggs will keep rolling in. I only wash my eggs for refrigeration a couple of times per week. Unwashed they last a long time. We have three Americanas, one Cream Legbar and one Slash Silkie. They all lay a blue egg except for the Silkie who lays a tan bantam sized egg. They are comical and a delight to watch and interact with. I spend about 10 minutes per day cleaning the coop so we have no smell and no rats. Backyard chickens produce a far superior egg to what you get in the store. They will also eat every weed and bug in your yard.
I have seen it. LOL!
There may be many on FR that haven’t, but it’s still a good, super safe, PG movie that kids can view.
Point all litte FREEPERS to it.
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