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Musings
of a Teen Scribe
Crazy
Chicken Lady
By Tiffany Beumer
Those
who go out catching night crawlers, are
usually into fishing; my family is into chickens. You read that right,
my mom
is becoming known as "the crazy chicken lady." I showed chickens for
eight years, in that time I thought I had a lot of knowledge on the
subject.
Recently I have found that you can never know everything there is to
know. My
mom has been doing some reading on chickens and has given me some very
interesting facts that I would like to share.
First
off if you didn't already know a hen does
not need a rooster to lay an egg, unless you want chicks of course. A
hen lays
an egg every twenty four to twenty six hours. When it comes to
gardening, eggs
are great! When starting seedlings you can use a half of an egg shell
to start
them in. Egg shells can also be broken up and spread on your garden to
help
grow your plants.
Did
you know that when you get eggs from a
grocery store they are already around six weeks old? Eggs can last up
to three
months being refrigerated. If you are concerned if your eggs are still
safe to
eat there are ways to check them before throwing them away. Fill a
glass with
water and place one egg in it at a time, if the egg floats it is bad,
but if it
sinks it is safe to eat; even if it is lifted just a little off of the
bottom.
When
feeding chickens, most people will just go
to a store and just buy grain feed. Chickens will eat almost anything,
and most
of these things are great for a chicken’s health. Several herbs can be
used to
make a chicken’s life a little safer for them. Mint can be used as an
insecticide and rodent repellent. Marigolds are good for making the egg
yolk
orange, as well as being an insect repellent. Lavender can be used to
relieve
stress. Chickens also love bread, fruit, veggies, weeds from a garden,
dried
meal worms, and night crawlers.
My
mom is the most caring person I know, not
only to humans but also our pets. Every morning when she goes out to
feed her
chickens she sings to them, and that is no joke. I've joked with her
that she
feeds her chickens better than she feeds my dad and me. She will cut up
all
kinds of fruits and vegetables to make them easier for her chickens to
eat. All
of the facts mentioned above, she does for her chickens! She is proud
to be
known as the "crazy chicken lady" and she will tell you that with a
smile on her face, followed by her infamous laugh. Now on any rainy
night you
can find us with a flashlight and a bucket, out catching some night
crawlers.
For those of you wondering, my dad, also known as the "saugeye slayer,"
still does use those night crawlers to get a big catch!
Want
to say “hi” to Tiffany, or ask her a
question? She can be reached here.
write4yourself@yahoo.com
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