- Mar 28, 2013
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I got my hen at the mall. (How many people can say that??) 
I saw her walking around near the parking lot, left in the same manner that so many cats here are left... dumped at an outdoor mall. I live in Miami; the closest farm is quite a drive.
I had been dreaming about have a backyard hen or two, even had my favorite "DIY chicken coops" saved. And here was this big, beautiful chicken that needed a yard. I asked the security guard if I could have her. He laughed at me, but said yes. Then he watched this city girl chase that chicken all over the place. Everyone who passed by laughed at me and I was thisclose to giving up... until a very nice couple helped me catch her. I put her in my trunk (I wasn't expecting to be going home with a chicken and my baby was strapped in his carseat in the back) and drove the three blocks back to my house. The hen, who we love like a pet, is named Penny.
That was a couple of months ago. She didn't lay eggs until recently, or at least that I know of. I figured that's why she was abandoned. But then yesterday I found her hiding in some bushes in the backyard (she suddenly started to prefer that over the little roost I built her)... sitting on a dozen eggs! So I guess she does lay eggs!
Perfect timing for Easter!
But how do I know if those eggs are ok to eat? Should I throw them out and start keeping the new ones she lays? Also, I've never taken her to a vet. Should I? Could there be any reason that her eggs would be bad or unsafe to eat, like parasites that could pass through the egg?
I'll be doing a lot of perusing through this site... for months I thought I just had a new backyard resident, but now I have a really great layer! (Maybe not great, but more than what we go through in a week.)
Tying to attach a pic... anyone know what kind of hen she is? Her eggs are brown. Oh, and her beak was trimmed at some point.
(before we learned about trimming wings! lol)
I saw her walking around near the parking lot, left in the same manner that so many cats here are left... dumped at an outdoor mall. I live in Miami; the closest farm is quite a drive. I had been dreaming about have a backyard hen or two, even had my favorite "DIY chicken coops" saved. And here was this big, beautiful chicken that needed a yard. I asked the security guard if I could have her. He laughed at me, but said yes. Then he watched this city girl chase that chicken all over the place. Everyone who passed by laughed at me and I was thisclose to giving up... until a very nice couple helped me catch her. I put her in my trunk (I wasn't expecting to be going home with a chicken and my baby was strapped in his carseat in the back) and drove the three blocks back to my house. The hen, who we love like a pet, is named Penny.
That was a couple of months ago. She didn't lay eggs until recently, or at least that I know of. I figured that's why she was abandoned. But then yesterday I found her hiding in some bushes in the backyard (she suddenly started to prefer that over the little roost I built her)... sitting on a dozen eggs! So I guess she does lay eggs!
Perfect timing for Easter!
But how do I know if those eggs are ok to eat? Should I throw them out and start keeping the new ones she lays? Also, I've never taken her to a vet. Should I? Could there be any reason that her eggs would be bad or unsafe to eat, like parasites that could pass through the egg?
I'll be doing a lot of perusing through this site... for months I thought I just had a new backyard resident, but now I have a really great layer! (Maybe not great, but more than what we go through in a week.)
Tying to attach a pic... anyone know what kind of hen she is? Her eggs are brown. Oh, and her beak was trimmed at some point.
