Dumbest Things People Have Said About Your Chickens/Eggs/Meat - Part 2 : Chicken Boogaloo.

[7 Biddies]

We have the opposite problem. Lots of relatives want free eggs (once ours start laying) and when I explain to them "once we sell enough to recoup the costs of everything" they look at me like I'm crazy. 

"But, but ... they're FREE!" I'll never recoup all my costs. These are among the most expensive eggs on the planet.

 

[7 Biddies]

I find that totally reasonable, and proof you have a backbone! OMG! Thats almost as rare as common sense! But really, the message is "You gonna eat at my table you gonna eat whats on the table." Same thing some parents teach kids. I had to say same thing about left overs to my late husband.
Course if they give you anymore grief, I would not be too polite to serve him up and SAY it came from some organic grocers, and tell her how much more money he was with no hormones added, free ranged. I cant afford organic!

Or, you can always tell them you and yours are eating the humanely raised organic cockerel, and bought a battery raised, hormone/pesticide/antibiotic/salmonella laden grocery store bird just for them. Bon appetite!

 

[7 Biddies]

Oh too funny! This guy should have chickens! Instead of prophylactics, there could be a reverse model of China, who now has no women for the men to marry cause they kept no girls!? Oops!? Seems like someone would have seen THAT coming!

Someone did - moi. :^)

 

[kris13]

Sorry for the double post. I need coffee.

 

[kris13]

"But, but ... they're FREE!" I'll never recoup all my costs. These are among the most expensive eggs on the planet.

True, maybe we can't even recoup the costs. (Not sure what the coop materials ran, afraid to ask.) Same thing with our garden. Did no one read "The Little Red Hen" growing up?

 

[allosaurusrock]

Ugh. More inexperienced trail rider stupidity. I was putting saddles away when I saw three people had formed a circle around one of my instructor's chickens, and were jumping up and down, making the poor hen be trapped and fly around in a desperate escape attempt while they were laughing. I had to politely explain to them why they should stop. GOOD LORD! CHICKENS ARE ANIMALS, NOT A COMMODITY FOR YOU TO PLAY WITH. LEARN SOME RESPECT!

 

[lazy gardener]

There would be no polite coming out of my mouth if I were to witness that. I once took off across a lake in my kayak, and chased an idiot on a Seadoo away who was doing donuts around a poor loon family. (Mom, Dad, and baby) I then stood guard, (actually sat guard) for the loons to make it to safety, found some locals who could tell me where the person on the Seadoo had a camp, and reported it to the local Rangers. What happened from there probably was a big fat nothing. But animals have a hard enough time raising a family without some idiot making sport of harassing them.

 

[ChickenGoesRuff]

I have to say, living on a "agricultural recreational" property in the midst of many non-farming neighbors and their "cookie cutter" homes and neighborhoods, has been enlightening to say the least. The most surprising thing I have gotten was people freaked out that my chickens had names and I still ate the eggs and meat they provided.

(At Christmas Dinner/any event where we served chicken with non-family)
Me: "We are eating (bird's name)! I raised it myself!"
Them: "You named it?!? And you STILL ate/are eating it? That's so mean!"
(Pulls out photo of baby chicks before they grew up)
Me: "That's the one right there! Wasn't it cute?!"
Them: "There's something wrong with you. I can't eat this anymore."
Me: "Why? Is it overcooked or something?"
Them: "No! But I know it was actually a chicken!"
(Of course, it was definitely a potato!)

Granted, I accept that I am my own special brand of chicken crazy. But I would rather eat the world's most spoiled and pampered chickens that were cared for, happy, and had a humane death; as opposed to hormone filled, substandard, factory birds. (although I will probably never turn down chicken nuggets!) Another fun thing I do with family and customers is identify eggs and what chicken laid them. (Not as weird because they are sorta pets...)

Me: "That one is from Hedwig, because it's green; that white one is from Ida because it has a warped/wrinkled shell at the tip; that other white one is from Speckles be--"
Them: "Ohhhh, I know how you can tell them apart!"
Me: "Awesome!"
Them:"Yeah, because you have so many nest boxes! How do you teach them what one is theirs?"
Me:*smiles nicely* "It don't work that way, honey..."
Goes on to explain different breeds and individual characteristics.
Them: "But there are 4 white ones, 3 green ones, and 5 brown! They are all the same!"
(actually all different shades, shapes, and sizes...)
Sometimes people really surprise me with how removed from their food they actually are. And how they explain things in much more convoluted ways: i.e. rooster needed for egg production, and the like.

 

[bigmrg74]

My in-laws are coming for a visit on Friday. They don't want me to cook one of my cockerels for dinner. They are fine with us processing them, they just don't want to EAT one.
I guess the thought of eating something that lived a healthy life, free ranging and all, is disgusting to them...

So process one Thursday and just don't tell em where the chicken came from.

There would be no polite coming out of my mouth if I were to witness that. I once took off across a lake in my kayak, and chased an idiot on a Seadoo away who was doing donuts around a poor loon family. (Mom, Dad, and baby) I then stood guard, (actually sat guard) for the loons to make it to safety, found some locals who could tell me where the person on the Seadoo had a camp, and reported it to the local Rangers. What happened from there probably was a big fat nothing. But animals have a hard enough time raising a family without some idiot making sport of harassing them.

Yeah, that's not cool. My mom has always told me the story of when she was at a horse show and some kid was running around being a little terror around the horses. Soon enough enough of the people there got tired of that and grabbed the kid and stuffed him in a net hay bag and hung him up for a while. That was way back in the 80's so there's no way you could have pulled that stunt off now.

 

[junebuggena]

So process one Thursday and just don't tell em where the chicken came from.

That's the plan...