Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Which came first; the chicken or the egg? Well, in our household, it was the chicks. And hopefully in about 5 months we will be enjoying lots of farm fresh eggs. At least, that's the plan. It took us, well me, quite a while to decide to actually get chickens. Every since Lesli got chickens a year or so ago, Hunter has been relentlessly begging and pleading to get some as well. You would think that since I was raised on a farm, riding a pet Brahma bull for fun, that it would be a quick and easy decision to raise chickens. Well, it was not, and I have had to work through some insane phobias the last few weeks in order to come to this decision.

I wouldn't trade the way I was raised for any thing in the world, however, farm life is just not my idea of a good time. I'm pretty sure that I'm a city girl living in a farm girls world. It's just too much work (I don't know how my sister does it), and besides that, I don't really like animals, well except for my dog and cats and the ones at the zoo and on the Discovery channel. I also really hate dirt and mud and well, don't even get me started on poop! Also, I am a self-proclaimed germaphobe. I can't even stand the thought of someone walking through my house with shoes on. I think of all the things they may have stepped on throughout the day that are now deeply embedded into my carpet. I have been known to pull out the industrial sized steam vac and clean carpets in the middle of the night.

And then there is the issue of my food aversions. Simply put, I am really picky about my food. I could almost be a vegetarian if it weren't for bacon and the occasional grilled burger. And, did I mention that I hate eggs. I can't stand anything about them. I think they stink, cooked or raw, and I would never eat one, not even to save my life....maybe my kids life, but not my own. And, as if all these irrationalities were not enough, my biggest phobia of all about farm life and chickens originates from the chicken killing rituals of my childhood. I'll never forget the times my family spent the day killing, boiling, plucking, and gutting harmless chickens (some of them were my friends) just so we would have food to eat. Imagine that.

I'll never forget it, how could I, the sight of chickens running around without a head(yes, it's true, they really do that) is etched into my crystal clear memory and the smell of boiling chicken flesh and feathers is burned into my nostrils to this day. But this story has a happy ending. I set aside all my phobias and for the love of my little Hunter, we now have chickens. I have to admit, they are pretty cute. We had to put them in the dining room until they get bigger (breathe in, breathe out), and for the most part, they have been pretty easy. I look forward to this new adventure (kind of like the way I look forward to getting a root canal). I'll keep you posted. Until next time.