Hen House Helping

Training our Hen House Helpers

by Anya O’Halloran, PCLF Hen House Helper Coordinator

Our 102 lovely hens are currently laying an average of 95 eggs (nearly 8 dozen!) each day.  Have you ever wondered who collects all those eggs every day?

As a farm whose mission is to “educate and inspire people to value healthy food, land and community through experiences on our farm,” the Learning Farm has established the Hen House Helper (HHH) Program to offer people the opportunity to participate in caring for our chickens.  HHHs (individuals, families, or groups of students) commit to volunteer for a regular weekly shift, either in the morning or the afternoon – for a four month period of time.  Hen House Helpers are trained, and then they cover their assigned shift on their own.  They collect the eggs, wash and candle them, and package them for sale.

As the Hen House Helper Coordinator (since Fall 2012), I provide these training sessions – which is the favorite part of my job!  For some HHHs, this training session is their first time at a/our farm and the first time caring for chickens.  There is always a surge of excitement present throughout the training, as the individuals participate in this new learning experience. 

The young children joining the training sessions are especially excited.  From the moment they hop out of their cars, they are jumping with anticipation.  Foreheads pressed against the door to the chicken house, they look intently at the chickens walking and scratching around the ground looking for bugs.  When it’s time to collect the eggs, they, with eager hands, grab their first egg from the nest boxes and have been known to then plop it into the egg collecting basket (at which point we again talk about putting eggs into our basket gently!).  They pet and hold their first chicken – beaming proudly all the while.  Then with great enthusiasm they throw some scratch (chicken candy!) or veggies over the fence to the ladies, and giggle with glee as a hundred pairs of wings flutter and a hundred chickens all scramble for the extra treat.  It’s a great joy for me to watch these children enjoying themselves as they participate in real farm work on a real farm.

Adults, too, are eager to learn about the farm, the chickens and their care, and the HHH Program.  I love all of their questions, and answer them as best I can.  It’s wonderful to see such enthusiasm! 

 

 

As I educate and inspire those in our HHH Program, I am mutually inspired by their great eagerness to learn about doing real farm work on a real farm!  It makes my job fun!

We are currently about mid-way through our Winter 2012-2013 HHH session.  If you are interested in becoming a Hen House Helper for future sessions, please feel free to contact me at aohalloran@prairiecrossing.com!

 

Which Came First?

 

The Chicken or the Egg?

posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

My niece, Hannah, was expounding on this topic just the other day.  Have you ever wondered, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

 

If so, you might find this interesting:

http://gizmodo.com/5978875/science-proves-whether-the-chicken-or-the-egg-came-first

 

 

Mystery Egg

A Particularly Amazing Egg

Posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Eggs are amazing things – but this particular egg, particularly so.  So much so, that some folks on the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts listserve were questioning whether or not it was real. 

Check it out and see what you think!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=99e_1358590156

If you have your doubts – and/or if you’d like to learn (lots!) more about the chicken reproductive system – you can read through the following pdf, the link for which was subsequently posted on the same chicken listserve.  If you read very carefully, the pdf document will either confirm or deny the amazing possibility for you.  

http://www.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Factsheets/Anatomy_and_Physiology/Anatomy_Female_reproductive.pdf

Happy reading!

White House Hens?

Backyard Chickens
in the Backyard of the White House?
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

This message was on the "Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts" group listserve yesterday. I thought that this might be of interest to some of our blog followers...

Please consider taking some time to sign the following petition requesting that the First Family add hens to their garden -- https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/backyard-hens-white-house/lJ7Ss51M.

They already have a huge garden and a beehive, so why not hens? Many of us out in the burbs are fighting a losing (for now) battle for the right to own hens. People are downright terrified of what *might* (but never will) happen if hens are allowed and perhaps if the First Family had a flock it would normalize the practice a little more when people consider it all around the country.

Spread the word!

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts" group.

How do you feel about Backyard Chickens?

Poll: Should Communities Allow Backyard Hens?
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Backyard chickens are becoming more and more popular with urban and suburban homesteading types -- with folks that care about and want to be more involved in where their food comes from. 

Grayslake does not yet allow backyard chickens -- but maybe someday that will change.  Do you think it should?

This was in the Grayslake Patch yesterday.  How will you vote? 
Grayslake Patch Poll on Backyard Hens

Cholesterol in Eggs

Eggs: Some Food for Thought

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

As much as I love eating farm-fresh eggs, I have tended to limit my egg consumption because of concerns about cholesterol.  Perhaps you have, as well.

But I’ve been reading Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow (Second Edition, 2010), and her chapter called “Eggs for Eating” has helped me to rethink some of those concerns.  Damerow feels that we’ve been scared away from eating eggs by effective “media scare tactics” concerning cholesterol.

 

Damerow goes on to explain that the amount of cholesterol in our bodies is regulated by our liver.  Most of that cholesterol has actually been manufactured within our bodies.  The cholesterol in the foods we eat can indeed increase our blood cholesterol, however our bodies can usually compensate for this by then either producing less cholesterol or excreting more.  Some people have better cholesterol-controlling mechanisms than others, so whether or not eating eggs will increase cholesterol in a person’s body depends in large part on how well those mechanisms are functioning.

She also points out that “saturated fat in the diet is the greater culprit in increasing blood cholesterol.  Many foods that contain cholesterol are high in saturated fat.  An egg is the rare exception – it is high in cholesterol but contains little saturated fat” (p. 228).

 

Damerow cites a related study and a long-term review. “A study reported in Medical Science Monitor showed that eating one or more eggs a day does not increase the risk of heart disease or stroke among healthy adults but may decrease blood pressure.  And a review of 30 years of cholesterol research published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition concluded that eating eggs has little relationship to high blood cholesterol or the incidence of heart disease” (p. 228).

Chances are you’ll find other sources that disagree with Damerow, but I found this to be some “egg-cellent” food for thought and worth sharing.   

Chicken Crazy?

Dining with the Chickens!

by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

One of my brothers, Dan, has long been known for his unique style of the ubiquitous “chicken dance” – often danced at weddings and other family gatherings since the early 1980s. 

The first time Dan visited our chickens at the Learning Farm a few years ago, he broke into his version of the chicken dance, exclaiming, “I’ve been waiting all my life to do my chicken dance with the chickens!” 

I guess multiple versions of “chicken crazy” runs in our family…

During a more recent visit to the Learning Farm, Dan progressed from “dancing with the chickens” to “dining with the chickens.”  He and my nephew, Ryan, helped me prepare some of our now-popular chicken gruel for the hens, and Dan decided to join them in their feeding frenzy!

He’s not really eating the stuff, of course (at least I hope he isn’t!) – but I took a photo anyway, and decided to share it here.

Eggs from Cage-free Hens

Take the Cage-free Pledge?
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

Today I received an email from the World Society for the Protection of Animals, which said in part: 

"Whenever we buy eggs -- or any product made with eggs -- we're making a choice about the kind of food we want to serve at our table, as well as the kind of world in which we want to live. By using the power of the purse to buy only higher welfare products, consumers can fundamentally change the way animals are treated.

Join the fight by pledging to take simple steps to help improve the welfare of these sensitive, sentient animals."
 
I chose to sign the pledge -- and thought that there may be a few of our blog followers (and Learning Farm egg purchasers) that might be interested in knowing about and/or signing it, as well.  If interested, you can go to The Petition Site.