Monday, November 19, 2012

What to Do With An Egg-Eating Hen

I’m a real Homesteader now!
We adopted two older hens from our new neighbor. He’d complained that he only got one egg per week. Well, it took me a few days, but I figured out why.
One (or both) of them was eating the eggs. I found one eaten egg inside the coop, did a little recon, and found a clatch of eaten eggs in the bushes.
Egg-eating is contagious. Or rather, teachable. The offending hen will teach the others how delicious eggs are, and how to eat them.
She had to go.
I didn’t know which one it was; they were identical Black Australorps. So I chose the biggest one.
It was my first time butchering a chicken. I was amazed at how docile she was. It was as if she knew that chickens were made to be food. She calmly lifted her head and didn’t fight or struggle or make a sound. It was peaceful. But not fun. No, I absolutely did not enjoy it. But I can do it. I am happy to report that I can provide meat for my family if I have to.
Since she was two years old, she was destined to be a stew hen. Because she was too tough for frying, I took the easy way out and skinned rather than plucked her. Then I made healthy, flavorful chicken & rice.
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Isn’t this a cute pot? I inherited it from Ben’s Grandma Pat.
Thankfully, I got the right hen. I was sad to lose her gorgeous bright sky-blue eggs. But I wasn’t the one getting them anyway. The remaining Black Australorp is very sweet and happy to be in our flock. She lays about 4 very pretty pink eggs each week!
 
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2 comments:

  1. Good for you on butchering the chicken! That is pretty intimadating the first time I would think. I have helped others many times but never done it be myself and I hope I never need to.

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