The big egg debate

Ok, so here is my personal opinion on why getting eggs from small, local farms is better than buying from large egg factories.
This is a quote from "foodconsumer.org"
Eggs from large flocks (30,000 birds or more) and caged hens have many times more salmonella bacteria than eggs from smaller, organically fed, free-range flocks. This is a proven fact. One study even found that while more than 23 percent of farms with caged hens tested positive for salmonella, this dropped to just over 4 percent for organic flocks. The highest prevalence of salmonella occurred in the largest flocks (30,000 birds or more), which contained over four times the average level of salmonella found in smaller flocks.
About 95 percent of the eggs produced in the U.S. comes from gigantic egg factories housing millions of hens under one roof. There are currently about 245 U.S. egg companies with flocks of 75,000 or more, and, of these 245 companies, 60 have at least 1 million laying hens, and 12 have more than 5 million!!!!

So, basically choosing between organic and non-organic supermarket eggs, the organic version is clearly a superior choice from a contamination perspective. And in my opinion, not only should they be labeled organic, they should be local, or as close to local as possible. The less distance they had to travel to reach you, the better. They will be fresher and taste better too.
More people are realizing that it is healthier to buy organic and locally grown foods. They are seeing the numerous recalls and health issues that come from mass-produced, and low budget farming practices. So please, if you don't want to worry about what is in your food, or how it is made, buy organic. Buy local, grow your own, or inform and educate yourself! Also, chickens are really easy to raise and they are wonderful pets with lovely personalities. We adore our chickens at Hentennial, and they give us wonderful, tasty eggs!

"Inedible Egg" - SlowFoodUSA.org/egg

Heat and hot water

Well, Rog met the plumber out at the farm last night and now we have heat! He said that the boiler that we had bought(on Craigslist) is a really good one, and he hooked up our heat and our hot water and fixed all the broken lines. He also hooked up a hose bib outside which will greatly assist us with watering the chickens. Now we don't have to carry buckets of water from the kitchen all the way out to the coop! A pleasure! It's amazing how we can take such simple things for granted like, water, heat and electricity, but when you don't have them, life is much, much harder! Now we just have to budget for some new windows. I would love to get the upper level windows put in before winter. The main floor windows are ok for now, there are actual windows there, some just need to be replaced.
So, things are moving along at Hentennial. The ladies will be moving into the barn for winter, after we convert one horse stall into a coop. And we are getting lots, and lots of eggs. So far I have just been giving them away to friends and family, but soon I may start selling them. No salmonella scares with our eggs! They are fresh from the farm, and ALL natural!
I can't wait to get back out there this weekend and get some more painting done. Next step is sanding the wood floors and staining them dark.
We probably won't be having Thanksgiving dinner there, but possibly a country-Christmas dinner!

Still pinching ourselves

The roof is done. Brand new, new trusses, new hayloft, new shingles. It looks great and we saved it probably just in time. I don't think it would have been standing after another Michigan winter. We also have new gutters on the house and the flashing repaired on the chimney's and new beadboard trim put under our front porch overhang. We are thrilled to have the hard work done before winter. At least the exterior hard work! The interior still has a long way to go. Still need a bathroom, and a kitchen and a lot of windows. But we are making progress. Thank goodness we found "bushhog Mike", he is the guy who I found on Craigslist to cut our pasture. Then he introduced us to his brother-in-law, who ended up re-roofing our barn. Gotta love small town connections! Everyone knows everyone, and apparently they all like to help out their neighbors. And so far, everyone we have met has been someone who we hope to know for many, many years.
We also are getting lots of eggs now. Even blue ones from our Auracana, Frida. We plan to move the chickens into the barn for winter so that they have more room to roost, and more warmth.
Now I have to work on finding more furniture. We need a dining room table, a couple of chairs for the living room, and some other odds and ends. Back to searching Craigslist and various resale and vintage shops.
So, our little farm is coming along. It's a slow and steady process but we love being there. Every time we arrive, a sense of calm and gratitude washes over me. It is a place of serenity and joy. I look around at what we worked so hard for and it just makes me smile. We still pinch ourselves when we are there, still in a bit of disbelief that we actually made it happen. Dreams are obtainable, you just can't ever give up.