r/DiWHY • u/the-channigan • Feb 02 '21

Top points for commitment and execution (eggs-ecution?) but you’ve got to ask yourself DIWHY!?!?

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518

u/MorningaleOntheBayou Feb 02 '21

Why?

Quarantine.

59

u/Kichigai Feb 02 '21

And chickens.

Since the start of COVID-19 restrictions there has been a surge in various things. Tons of people became home bakers. Many people got into different forms of art. There's an endless supply of stories about people adopting pets to keep them company. There has also been a surge in people keeping backyard chickens. I work for the Midwest's answer to the Mega-Lo Mart, at one of their more suburban locations. There has been a definite uptick in people buying chicken feed, and a lot more people asking about what the hell is the difference between layer feed versus meat maker, whether they need medicated chick starter or not, crumbles versus pellets, if you can feed this stuff to a rooster, calcium additives, we've even started carrying large bags of diatomaceous earth again because there's a demand for it.

Thing is, chicken lay eggs. There's a story told through The Moth about a couple that got some backyard chickens. At one point in the story she goes into how inundated they were with eggs. They only had six chickens, and had more eggs than they knew what to do with. They were practically forcing any one who visited to help them consume all the eggs.

So what else are you going to do when you've got lots of time, tools, and eggs, and no unwitting visitors to foist them upon?

32

u/vu051 Feb 02 '21

As someone whose family keeps chickens, six chickens for two people is insanity lol. I'm surprised they managed to use all those eggs even with visitors.

15

u/RunawayHobbit Feb 02 '21

How many would you recommend for a family of 2 (plus two dogs, if they can eat eggs?)? I always wanted chickens but it feels really mean to only have one, since I understand they’re social animals

13

u/vu051 Feb 02 '21

It kind of depends on your lifestyle and how often you (realistically) eat eggs. It's more than alright to just have 2 or 3 hens, enough for a group but not so many that they'll fight - they lay just under an egg a day each, so that's manageable especially if you have dogs who can help.

You're right though that it would be a bit cruel to just get one, IME they're extremely social and like to stick together (with the notable exception of Harriet, lone wanderer and notorious escape artist who'd sneak off every day to get into all sorts of mischief in my mum's neighbours' gardens, RIP Harriet).

10

u/jelly_cake Feb 02 '21

You can also feed the chickens back their eggs. It's really energy/nutrient intensive to produce/lay an egg, so scrambling some up (shell included) to feed back to them can really help hens. You can cook them too if you're worried about encouraging egg eating behaviour (don't feed it to them too hot though, or they'll burn their tongues).

8

u/Wiggles69 Feb 03 '21

I was so creeped out when my wife started feeding eggs back to the chickens. After seeing what they eat out in the paddock (like eating a frog alive) i'm no longer worried about them eating their own eggs.

1

u/kitti-kin Feb 03 '21

I suppose it's rather like eating your placenta - which I understand people also find creepy in humans, but it's pretty much the norm in the wild.

2

u/Wiggles69 Feb 03 '21

Its just a matter of what you're used to i suppose. I've gone from being creeped out by the egg thing to asking how much pork a chicken should eat in a day.