Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The chicken or the egg


Many of you have heard me joke for years about raising hens in our backyard in San Francisco. An idea I've been fascinated with since reading article about a guy in the neighborhood who has hens that he calls the omelet sisters. I thought how great would it be to have fresh eggs right out the back door as a complement to the lemon tree, Geoff's garden, the worms, and our organic veggie box delivery! Oh and then there was talk of bees for honey, but that is another post.

Well, here in our new home it seems I've just been given the chance to gather fresh eggs, and now I'm not so sure I'm up for the challenge.

About 10 days ago I decided to dig up a dead plant in a pot outside of our front door. About an hour after I finished the job I found a rooster and a hen taking a siesta in the pot. The following day I found a brand new egg, and each day after that, another and another and another. Every day I'd check the pot, document the progress, and ask the same question; the chicken or the egg.

We were up to 8 when I checked the pot and found the hen had come back to stay. It is too late to choose the egg, but it seems I knew the answer all along.

They say it takes about 21 days for chicks to hatch, 19 days and counting...

No comments:

Post a Comment