Raising chickens?

[carmen]

I know they will be nasty, dirtiest animal on earth, right? But they are quite yummy too. We are not huge egg eaters here but I could see the use for baking. The other issue is, just like any other pet on this property its all going to come down to me taking care of them. I am not sure I am up for more "work".

[Marshmallow]

My nephew and his children have been raising chickens for the past year. They now have chickens that lay brown, blue, green and pink eggs. I find the idea fun, but they have more eggs than they know what to do with. They brought me some last week, and told me I had to wait a few weeks before I could boil them. The shells on fresh eggs are too soft to boil early on. I learn something new each day.

[RandySki]

My sister-in-law raises chickens and so has my neighbor. From what I've seen, it's too much of a mess. I've talked to my wife about it and she says, "no way!"

[Gondor]

I've been there, done it before. But I was only a kid when my grandparents used to raise them. They mainly raised them for eggs but some did end up as meat on the table, regrettably.

[ppine]

I have some unusual neighbors. The daughter is now a horse trainer and lives in a large tent in the back of the property. She recently gave up being a vegan and is raising chickens. She also has one wild turkey which I really like. Soon I will be trying some turkey eggs. The sound of that bird, a female is very comforting.

[Judy Ann]

Someone told me that you don't have to have a rooster in order for the hens to lay eggs. Is this true?

Marshmallow, I don't wait to softboil farm fresh eggs and I haven't noticed issues with the shell. Hopefully they are as fresh as the farmers say they are.

[Grandpa]

Having raised chickens, never seen an issue with boiling an egg an hour old. And no Judy, the rooster is not necessary. If the rooster is around, you will find a blood spot in the egg which is the start of the new chick. If you have an old brood hen that wants to steal the eggs and sit on them, get a rooster and separate them from the rest of the flock and the old hen will raise you a nice bunch of chicks.