Like many families who decide to get baby chicks, we'd underestimated the time commitment-and the filth-inherent in chicken-keeping.
But the birds hadn't been an impulse decision. Our three sons had been masterminding how they were going to run this "business" for months. Their plan: Get three chickens and launch an egg-selling business. They had a name for the enterprise (Let's Get Cracking), a logo (a cracked egg, with a fried egg bursting out between the two halves) and elaborate plans for a grand opening (a backyard brunch with hard-boiled, scrambled and fried eggs as the main course).
"We've got it covered, Mom," said my then-8-year-old when I emphasized the work involved. "You and Dad won't have to do anything. Promise." He and his 10-year-old twin brothers seemed up for the challenge and excited by the idea of earning money by selling fresh eggs.
Who was I to squash their entrepreneurial drive? Friends who had been keeping chickens for years assured me that it was easy. "You can even sell the poop to local gardeners for fertilizer,” one said, as though pawning off feces for profit was an obvious plus.
Secretly, I was enchanted by the vision of fresh blue and beige eggs on our countertop - not to mention that of adding some females to our all-boy brood. I even envisioned myself, in a floppy hat, escorting my egg-carting boys to the farmers' market to sell their wares.
Despite our boys' promises, my husband, Brandon, feared that the lion's share of the chicken-keeping duties would fall on him (I didn't beg to differ), and he wanted no part of it. "We have to put together a coop and a run and clean it all. And they poop-a lot," he said.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2023-Ausgabe von Good House Keeping - US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2023-Ausgabe von Good House Keeping - US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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Guide to a Stress-Free DINNER PARTY
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The Mental Health Benefits of Cats - How our feline friends keep our minds purring
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Can Anything Really Firm Your Face? - Countless complexion brands tout skin-tightening solutions like firming skincare products, at-home devices and professional treatments
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The Stress-Busting Hack That's Right Under Your Nose- Breathwork is more than the wellness trend du jour- it's a science-backed route to relief from multiple modern ailments.
“OK, OK, just take a breath.” If that’s what a friend advises after you panic-share about a major-anxiety-inducing situation — your teen taking his maiden solo voyage behind the wheel, work instability, another high-stakes world crisis dinging your phone every few minutes — it’s probably because they hate seeing you so on edge. But also, your friend is offering an effective means of slowing your spin. “The way you breathe affects anxiety, and anxiety affects how you breathe,” says James Nestor, author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. “It’s a two-way street, and while anxiety isn’t a conscious choice, our breathing is.”
Do Men Really Not See The Mess? - The answer might surprise you. Journalist and author Gemma Hartley pulls back the curtain to reveal the invisible forces that drive this all-too-common cause of marital strife.
There was a time, earlier in my marriage, when every morning as I walked into the kitchen I braced myself for the rage and resentment that would well up in me.Cupboards left open. Dirty dishes in the sink. Coffee cups strewn around the house. And usually a pair of slippers or shoes, with inside-out socks, on the floor somewhere nearby. Even when I had left the house spotless the night before, I’d wake to a scene of disarray — the mess my husband had left behind on his way out the door for work.I didn’t know which scenario seemed worse, my husband’s consciously expecting me to clean up these messes or his truly not noticing them at all. I found myself silently tallying these small resentments, furious and flummoxed in turn that he seemed oblivious to things that needed to be tidied up around the house. It seemed as if he was always waiting for me to tell him what had to be done, as if he was incapable of noticing the mess himself even when he was creating it.
BLISTERED BITES
Shishitos are delicious all yearand creepy on Halloween!
DRINK if you DARE
Welcome, vampires, skeletons and zombies: This spiritforward duo may be strong enough to wake the dead.
Have a scary-good HALLOWEN
The spookiest day of the year calls for tricks and treats!
