![]() So, I won’t advocate not to refrigerate your eggs! Certainly, I didn’t try it until I had read and researched it! There are important guidelines that need to be observed in handling farm fresh eggs, and all eggs, to prevent some serious health risks whether you refrigerate them or not, including salmonella or even just spoiled eggs. Warning: I need to note that food safety guidelines in our country require refrigeration of eggs and egg products sold. I had no idea most of the world feels it is better not to wash your eggs so they keep longer! Fresh eggs keep well much longer than I ever knew, even unrefrigerated if you don’t wash them. ![]() They really don’t take a lot of space, unless you have a larger flock. We have learned so many other things! While there is routine care, chickens really are relatively low maintenance. There is more to that story, but it is probably better told by the builder himself, my husband! It’s a well built chicken house, but it turned out heavier and less mobile than anticipated. He also built it on runners so he could pull it from one area to another in our yard using the idea of the mobile “chicken tractor” but using our actual tractor. My husband designed it to be strong to protect the chickens from critters and the winter winds. While it was amazing for us to have someone in the family who had the skills to build our first coop, he now thinks he might have built it too well. So, what were the bumps or lessons of this project? Probably the biggest one was the coop. ![]() Our partner enjoys them too, and we love being able to share occasionally with family and friends. But we all enjoy using the eggs and benefit from them. My husband did the “heavy lifting” building the coop and still does the bulk of the care, so he deserves most of the credit. There was a learning curve of course, but I must admit, this has been one of the easier “experiments” we have undertaken on our hobby farm. Meanwhile, my husband started building a coop out of scrap lumber. Later this graduated to a dog crate with a cardboard liner and bedding. Ten minutes later, we had a part-time neighbor partner.Ģ4-hours later we had a dozen chicks in a cardboard box under a lamp in the garage. We would need a consistent plan to have them taken care of. “Maybe, but what about when lock-down is over? We are gone sometimes for family visits, vacations, and kids’ activities. “So, you would be okay if we got some chicks to raise for eggs?” ![]() My response was a good humored (I hope) “Well, if we are ever going to do it, now would be the time.” The following was a summary of the brief exchange that followed: He was especially interested in chickens and producing our own eggs. Part of our family’s changes became more than the short-term changes, though! As we discussed our challenges of finding staples such as milk and eggs in stores on some occasions, my husband recalled that he would still like to expand the scope of our “hobby farm”. We felt very lucky to have our roomy house in the country so we at least had room to “spread out” even while we were technically isolating and social distancing. Most of us have stories of how we and our families experienced pandemic lockdowns and endured the shortage of supplies and goods resulting from the supply chain problems. Work, school, shopping and social activities all changed. When the Covid 19 virus hit and lock-downs went into effect our family made a number of adjustments as did many families to stay safe and to follow new health restrictions. ![]() However, none of the changes were as dramatic as the ones that were stimulated by the pandemic and then the subsequent supply chain problems. The farm projects have evolved over the years based on our interests and needs. We have enjoyed having space to have a few animals and space to grow a few crops and garden. My husband and I have a small “hobby farm” where we have lived for over a decade with our now teenagers. ![]()
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