a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Working Mother To Be

    So what is life like for a mother-to-be hen? Most of the time, day and night, it is sitting quietly on her eggs. She is also gently turning the eggs many times a day. This keeps the embryo centered in the egg and prevents it from sticking to the shell membrane. She also protects the eggs she is sitting on and will keep other hens and predators from getting into her nest. (The squiggly lines on the eggs are ones I drew to mark the eggs she started incubating.)

    EggsBeingIncubatedOf course, a hen doesn’t have a servant to bring her food and water. At least once a day, she has to leave the nest to eat, drink, go to the bathroom, and get some exercise.

    OutEatingAfterwards, she is back on her nest until the next day.

    BackOnTheNest

  • Laying an Egg

    Chickens lay their eggs standing up. Here’s Hazel laying an egg. First, she sits quietly in the nest for ten, twenty, thirty minutes. Then when the time comes for the egg to pop out, she slowly stands and in a minute or two she drops her egg. Many hens leave the nest soon after laying their egg. Many hens also cackle loudly. I find this odd, as it alerts predators that there is a fresh egg in that spot. But the cackling seems to tell the other hens that the nest is now free, and that there is an egg there.

    Hens work together to build a clutch of eggs to hatch. They don’t all want to hatch a clutch, so by working together and laying eggs in the same nest, they can more quickly go to work hatching the next generation of chicks. At least, that seems to be what is going on.
    HazelLayingAnEgg1
    HazelLayingAnEgg2
    HazelLayingAnEgg3
    HazelLayingAnEgg4
    Eggs come out wet and shiny. This is called the bloom and it quickly dries, forming the cuticle, a protective barrier which keeps bacteria from entering the egg.
    From Suburban Chickens:

    Eggs are laid with what is called a “bloom” which naturally protects it. This is the coating on the egg shell that seals its pores. Also known as the cuticle, it helps to prevent bacteria from getting inside the shell and reduces moisture loss from the egg keeping it fresher longer.

    Hens usually do not start incubating their eggs until they have a clutch of 10 to 15 eggs. She wants to start incubating all the eggs at the same time so that the eggs all hatch on the same day. Therefore, eggs need to stay viable for the ten days to two weeks it takes for her to build up a clutch. Which is why, if you take a freshly egg, and put it on the counter, it will still be fresh two weeks later.

    Since washing eggs damages the cuticle, making eggs more susceptible to contamination, in Europe, egg producers are not allowed to wash eggs. Even the US National Center for Biotechnology Information acknowledges this:

    Egg washing is currently not permitted within the European Union, with few exceptions. This is mainly because there are concerns that cuticle damage could occur during or after the washing process, as a result of a suboptimal operation. (Effect of egg washing on the cuticle quality of brown and white table eggs.)

    But you won’t find unwashed eggs in your supermarket. Chances of finding an egg with its cuticle intact in a supermarket are nil. The USDA requires all USDA graded eggs and most large volume processors to follow the washing step with a sanitizing rinse at the processing plant. In Washington state, flocks of under 3,000 hens are USDA grade exempt and fall under state law. Washington state allows the following egg cleaning methods:

    • dry cleaning by lightly “sanding” the stains or minimal dirty areas with sand paper;
    • using potable water in a hand spray bottle and immediately wiping dry with a single service paper towel: and/or
    • briefly rinsing with running water spray and immediately wiping dry with a single service paper towel.

    If you would like to get eggs with their cuticles intact, you’ll need to find a small farm which can supply you with such eggs. And if you do find small farm which can sell you eggs, be sure to get a farm that will tell you when your eggs were laid.

  • First Brood?

    CommercialHatching
    Most chickens are hatched in large commercial incubators. Here at a man and his hoe® we do things very differently.

    Even though it is still cool, spring is in the air. The robins are active, calling for mates. The thimble berries and raspberries are budding out. And one of my hens went broody a few days ago. Tonight I placed a full set of eggs underneath her for her to hatch. In three weeks, around March 26, if all goes well, they should hatch.

    So what is this bowl of marked eggs for? They are for the broody hen to incubate and hatch. Before placing eggs under a broody hen, I mark the eggs so I can tell later if another hen has added any eggs to the clutch. A broody hen will leave her nest once a day to eat, get some exercise, and do her business. While she is away, another hen may add an egg to the clutch. But such additional eggs need to be removed as they won’t hatch at the same time as the original clutch. By marking the eggs at the start, it’s easy to spot any unwanted new eggs

    EggsforMidge

    And here is the brooding hen.

    MidgeBrooding

    So why go to all the bother of hatching chicks under a broody hen? What chicken farmer in this day and age does this? Wouldn’t it be much cheaper and easier just to use an incubator or purchase chicks from a hatchery?

    I do it for the chicks and their mothers. In an incubator, the chicks don’t get to listen to their mother’s heartbeat as they develop. They don’t get to hear her soft calls as their hatching day approached. And after they hatch, they get to cuddle and dry out under their mother’s warm breasts, and get to make their first steps out into the world under her watchful. At night they get to sleep under the warmth of her body and in total darkness, not under heat lamps like most chicks.

    And the hens, when they go broody, not getting to hatch a clutch of eggs can be upsetting. They will sit and sit and sit until they finally give up after four or five weeks. Some are visibly upset when they spend all that time and end up without a clutch of chicks to raise. Many hens have a strong desire to hatch and rear chicks. Talking about a sense of fulfillment with chickens is perhaps a stretch, but when you watch a mother hen worrying about and carrying for her chicks, it is so endearing. Instinct no doubt drives this, but when the instinct is this strong, isn’t it wrong to deny its expression?

    Modern agriculture has stopped considering the animals it raises as living creatures with feelings and desires. The attitude is to do whatever will produce the most eggs and meat at the lowest cost possible. But do you really want to purchase eggs and chicken from producers who have such little regard for the animals under their care?

  • Diligent Dogs

    BBEchoGuardDogsA pair of fearless guard dogs are a necessity when you are raising free-roaming chickens. You need vigilant ears, eyes, and noses on the lookout for coyotes, eagles, and hawks. They look like they are snoozing and not paying any attention. But at the slightest whiff of danger, these two are on their feet and charging after any approaching danger.

    MotherWithNearlyGrownChicksThese chicks are two and a half months old now. At times they are quite independent, but they still stay close to their mother and roost with her at night. The other night I couldn’t see the white one, until I peered closely at the mother’s feet, and saw the chicks feet between her mother’s. She was roosting underneath her mother.

    WetRoosterWe are in the wet season. A steady rain all day doesn’t stop the chickens from being outdoors most of the time. Even when they get soaked, like Billy the rooster, they seek cover only when it is pouring rain.
    All the chickens at a man and his hoe® enjoy a full life, experiencing all kinds of weather, and enjoying the protection of two loyal dogs. It’s what chickens deserve.

  • Free Range Eggs?

    What images float through your mind when you see a carton of free range eggs? Idyllic scenes chickens foraging on grass? Chickens out enjoying fresh air and sunshine? Chasing bugs and scratching for grubs and earthworms?

    OnTheGrass
    The reality is sadly, often not what you imagine. In the United States, there is no legal definition for free range eggs. There are no standards as to what a farmer must do to label their eggs: free range eggs. It basically just means that the chickens are not in cages. Often they are cooped up by the thousands in huge houses. And when they are crowded together, problems such as cannibalism, high ammonia levels, and stress arise. To prevent cannibalism, hens in these crowded facilities have their beaks trimmed so they don’t hurt each other when they peck. These chickens are not living the life you want them to live, nor producing the quality of eggs you deserve.

    The best way to know if the eggs you are buying are coming from chickens living the way you want them to live, is by calling the farmer who produces your eggs. Ask them what kind of pasture their chickens have. Ask how much space their chickens have. How much time do they spend outdoors?

    You have a right to know how your eggs are produced. You are the one eating the eggs and incorporating the eggs into your body. The protein and minerals in the eggs you eat are going to end up being your bones, your skin, your organs … in other words: you!

    Below are images of the way some free range chickens are raised. You’ll never see chickens raised this way at a man and his hoe®.

    FreeRangeNoted
    OntarioChickensNoted
    12 things you should know about eggs (crunchybetty.com)
    Free range eggs (wikipedia.org)
    Free range eggs vs caged eggs – What’s the Difference Nutritionally? (healthambition.com)