06 March 2011

Article: In New Food Culture, a Young Generation of Farmers Emerges

While the average age of farmers nationwide continues to creep toward 60, the locavore and farm-to-table movements are spurring a growth in the number of younger farmers. Read more.

Article: All Jokes Aside, Chicken-and-Egg Mystery Finally Cracked

British scientists believe they have found the answer to an ages-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Read this article to find out the answer.

Science Lesson: How an Egg Forms


Tantamount to learning how a hen lays her eggs is understanding how she forms it in the first place. Check out these two sources to learn more:

Science Lesson: How a Hen Lays Her Egg

Blog visitor Molly liked the video showing the hens cackling about an egg laid. That piqued her interest to know more about just how a hen lays her egg. Unfortunately, I haven’t been in the position to capture such an intimate video, nor am I sure the hens would allow it. Instead I offer this link to a description on the interesting event that is egg laying. Reading this made me appreciate all the more our ladies and the special little ovoid miracles they deliver to us each day.

Cozy Coop

Hard to believe two months have passed since I last posted. While it’s been cold outside, we’ve been busy at One Prairie Outpost tackling indoor projects – both in our house and in the chicken coop. We’ve made significant progress on the second floor renovations in our home – more to come on that in the future. In the chicken coop, one important update we made to help the chickens weather the winter was insulation. On a Sunday in late January, Ben and I worked together to insulate the coop ceiling. Keeping the same eye on reusing available materials that we held in constructing the coop, we used our leftover polywoven chicken feed sacks to cover the insulation. Not only do they provide a protective barrier for the insulation, but they also lend a funky chicken-themed ceiling décor to the coop.