Local families have egg-citing hobby
Although Delmarva is known for its chicken industry, the days of having backyard hens seemed to have gone the way of the dodo for a while. With the fast-paced life of ample development and grocery stores on every corner, rural Delmarva seemed to be taking a back seat. But a new trend on the peninsula is green living in the form of going back to basics. And, for some, that means once again having backyard hens that are free to roam, and enjoying the “fruits” of labor in the form of fresh eggs.
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Adison and Abott Browne with some of the family’s hens.
Additionally, in the time of recalls of everything from cars to toys to produce, it’s hard to know what’s safe anymore. But sometimes the solution is simple. For two local families, it translates into having hens that lay eggs for each of the families to enjoy.
For one family, it’s a potential business endeavor, and for another family, it’s simply a way to enjoy eggs on their own or have them to give away. Both are using it as a teaching tool for their children. And, as eggs are a staple in any growing family’s diet, this translates into both simpler living and making good financial sense, as well as knowing exactly where their food came from.
Van and Lisa Browne of Dagsboro recently started raising their own hens, and it is something they hope will teach their three (soon to be four) sons both about God’s creations and business.
Van Browne said their family’s adventure started with Lisa and the kids seeing different backyard hens, horses, goats, etc,. on their daily road-trips.
“With three boys and Lisa pregnant with our fourth, we’re very active and like to get out of the house, so we spend ample time in the car. … Rather than doing the easy thing of handing them Nintendo DS’s, we try to use drive time as productive learning and bonding time. Checking out God’s creation is fascinating and productive. After all, He is the first one to ‘go green,’ right?”
As early as the boys could talk, Browne said, they would point out hens in yards as they drove by, or deer, goats or horses, as can still be seen in many parts of Delmarva. Browne said his wife’s response was always, “One day, maybe we’ll talk Daddy into getting some for the back yard.”
Browne said his reply was always “no” – until his entrepreneurial spirit was stirred and he thought he might be a good way to save the family money, as they would often buy up to two dozen eggs per week for the family of five. In addition to saving money, he thought it could potentially be a business endeavor for their boys. They got started with help from a friend who had ordered too many chicks and guided them along the way.
“With our flock of 12 hens, producing up to a dozen eggs a day in their peak laying season, we could give eggs to our family and neighbors and the kids will make their first leap into entrepreneurship by selling the extra eggs,” he explained. “We hope to go from spending up $7 or $8 a week on eggs at the grocery store to putting some extra money in the boys’ piggy banks when our flock gets old enough to lay.”
Lisa Browne, who is due to give birth to the couple’s fourth son in just a few short weeks, noted that the “hens are due about the same time as me!”
Kristen and Jerrod Steele, also of Dagsboro, have had their own hens since last summer. After finding another local person who had ordered too many chicks and wanted to sell some off, Kristen Steele brought the chicks home.
“I follow quite a few online blogs about simple living and have been fascinated with the whole laying-hens-in-the back-yard/grow-your-own concept for a while,” explained Steele. She said she had exhausted library resources and ended up finding the best information online from other “chicken-keepers.”
Last June, she ordered 25 ”Easter egg-laying” chicks and then sold approximately half of them on Craigslist. The chicks she kept stayed in a small enclosed coop until they were old enough to hang out with the older hens in the garden during the day.
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Left, from left to right, Adison, Van and Abott Browne.
“While outside, the chickens would bask in the sun, give themselves ‘dust baths,’ eat all of the bugs, eat all of the fallen produce and chase each other around, as in the game ‘tag,’” she joked.
Both families found relatively inexpensive deals for or were given sheds that they turned into hen houses, even though much of the hens’ time is spent outdoors, eating bugs and fallen produce from their gardens.
Browne said his mind was really changed when he was listening to the radio one day and a caller who was educated on the subject mentioned how much better balanced the omega fatty acids are in the eggs of hens who have lived a much less stressful free-range lifestyle with natural diets of bugs, ticks, frogs, worms, natural grasses, etc.
“The caller added that it’s not just, ‘you are what you eat,’ it’s also ‘You are what your food eats.’ The boys and I have enjoyed digging for worms and hand-feeding them the hens. ‘Spiderman,’ Abott’s favorite hen, seems to enjoy the earthworms the most – fitting, since playing with bugs, worms and frogs is one of Abott’s favorite pastimes!”
While the Brownes hope to enjoy brown eggs from their hens, the Steeles purchased the “Easter egg-laying” type to have eggs that range in their natural colors: pink, blue, green, white and brown. Steele added that they prefer not to sell them, but rather to eat them or give them away to friends, neighbors and family.
“I am in the process of looking for a food-pantry (or a few) that would like to distribute them to low-income families,” Steele noted, later reporting that Casa San Francisco in Milton will be taking the extra eggs, along with the Steeles’ garden surplus from this spring and summer.
Both families admitted that chickens can be a little messy, but it all comes with the territory.
“All in all, chickens are great!!” said Steele. “My children get grossed out by having chicken ‘poo’ on their shoes, pants or legs, but having the ‘brood’ has taught them hard work, the life cycle, the ag process and the beauty of just one of God’s creatures. I wouldn’t suggest that everyone have backyard chickens, just those who can provide the time and high quality of life that they deserve.”
“We all love the new additions to our family,” added Browne. “The boys and I especially enjoy sitting quietly and watching the 12 hens enter the henhouse at sunset, one by one, through their mini hen-door. There is something so relaxing about watching nature perform its daily routine… makes you wanna ‘go green.’
“The only drawback we’ve found so far,” Browne said, “is that you have to keep a specific pair of boots designated for the hen area, or else your shoes and all the carpets you regularly travel on will ‘go brown,’ if you know what I mean. We look at the bright side, though: we’ll have our own fertilizer factory for our vegetable garden this summer!”
For more information on backyard hens, Steele keeps a blog, cluckingaround.blogspot.com that she updates a few times a week with lots of chicken information.
For information on the health benefits of eating grass-fed meat, eggs and dairy, visit www.eatwild.com.
