You know the difference between white eggs and brown, right? It takes more vitamins and energy for the right kinds of hens to add tint in that final stage of egg production which, sadly, is not passed on to us nutritionally. An egg is an egg is an egg, chicken-wise. If you’re buying brown for any reason other than vanity, you’re getting scrambled.
But if you like a little color in your eggcup, green is available…and blue and cream and pink and…
Brown is fun, every eggs are different (even the pattern, I love the ones full with dots). And it’s the only available color here anyway.
I heard about odd colored ones but never saw them. Maybe I saw white ones once…? Don’t remember. But some brown is almost white, I kept some hoping I will paint them one day for Easter… Maybe this year, I am more confident after all the rock and fridge magnet painting I did in the last months.
We have a chicken coop on our property, and I’ve been toying with the idea of keeping hens. In my research, I once came across a photo of all the different egg colours someone’s hens produced. Very pretty!
I’d really love the fresh eggs, but my sister thinks chickens would be too much work. There is also the problem of predation, since we have hawks and foxes in the area. I checked the city regulations, and it appears we would be allowed to keep six hens. I don’t think we have enough property to keep a cock’s crowing from disturbing the neighbourhood, so that lets out having baby chicks. (I’m not sure how I’d feel about eating fertilised eggs, anyway, not to mention that some roosters can be rather rough on the hens.)
I grew up tending chickens and your sister is right, it’s endless. It involves daily chores, weekly chores, monthly chores, seasonal chores, and annual chores that will all cost you time and money if you want your chickens happy and your eggs delicious. If you do it, do it for the love of it because at 6 hens the return on your money will be less than you pay in the supermarket when you do the math. And that coop better be downwind.
I adore chickens nostalgically to this day but that’s because I was a kid when I made those memories and I didn’t have to do any of the real grunt work around them…or pay for it.
If none of that has dissuaded you, remember this: No leghorns. Seriously, they’re bastards. They may pop out eggs like feathered Pez dispensers but you will bleed at some point. Tiny velociraptors, all of them. Safer bets are Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and any breed that looks round and squeezable rather than lean and mean.
I love the idea that chickens (and other birds, but especially chickens) are actually the remaining representatives of the dinosaurs. 
(P.S.—Why is there no dinosaur emoji?)
Birds are dinosaurs…
I only had the kid experience so no work, just joy 
I loved feeding and watching hens, they are hilarious. And soft. And finding warm fresh eggs is nice.
Some retain more of their vicious dinosaur instincts than others. I have a very vivid memory of screaming while 2" spurs scraped at my 7-year-old back, the definitive sound of an axe meeting a chopping block, and then chicken soup for dinner. The circle of life.
I only met cute hens. One of my anchestor (a great-grandmother I think) had a super violent rooster though. But that was a rooster. We expect some agression from roosters and I never tried to grab one. While I catched some hens. They were soft, tame and a bit afraid.
OK, in this house, green eggs are torpedo shaped and from the posh brown fat hen who wears a hat (Esme), white eggs are from the psycho demon black bird (Silver) who pecks hard enough to draw blood when she’s in the mood, and brown eggs are from everyhen else… green eggs have less white than the other eggs, but nutritionally, eggs of any colour are eggs, however if you want to get into the caged vs. properly cared for and allowed to live normal happy lives, that definitely makes a difference. Everyone comments on how good my girls eggs are so I tell them, it’s because they’re infused with the love and care my birds are surrounded by 
I was kinda ignoring this topic. But no more. Yes, birds are dinosaurs! Or at least their direct descendants. I cared for chickens during my decade of homesteading at Lake Laberge. Yes, they are fascinating critters.
One day I heard a loud ruckus near the barn. I ran down to see what was going on to find a Bald Eagle perched on a fence post watching a rooster put on a performance to match the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava. Love 'em.
Thanks for the validation. We raised all our flock from chicks of various breeds so they were well habituated to people. Most of my birdies were sweethearts who would sit in my lap and fall asleep while being petted but there was always one (or two) you knew to stay away from. Can chickens have borderline personality disorder?
Due to our rural Midwest property on the edge of a mixed deciduous forest above a riparian valley, we had to completely enclose everybody in chicken wire or there would be nothing but feathers and feet left in the morning. However, our ladies ate extremely well, getting every table scrap other than citrus, all the mower clippings, and every weed ever pulled in our large organic garden on top of supplemental feed. We had so many double yolks that I grew up thinking it was normal. I still remember that shade of orange-yellow. (sigh)
I have two chickens for a natural pesticide in my backyard. I don’t care about the eggs, as long as they keep eating the bugs.
That is a great idea about letting chickens loose and letting them eat bugs. Sadly, where I live, I doubt they’d last the week until the hawk (or some other animal) took them out. We had a fake owl whose head moved, to deter chipmunks away from our garden. That was great, until the hawk dive bombed it and knocked it over.
Then there are the bobcats, coyotes, raccoons, owls, etc. Came home one day to an owl in the tree near our driveway. I’ve rarely seen owls though, only hear them. Woke up one day to an owl and a hawk, both about 10 feet apart.
Forget the chickens. My rector when I lived in the Hudson Valley had a smallish terrier mix, and he said that someone from the family always needed to be with the dog while he was outside, because the hawks and eagles would be circling . . . . 
I have an Americuana that lays blue-green eggs. They are pretty.
I have 5 hens and no roosters. They are way too much trouble. If I need more chickens I will get chicks at a feed store. They are fun (but noisy and dusty when they get bigger).
We have a coop, a completely enclosed and covered yard, a feeder, and automatic waterer. They are work sure, but not that much. You can leave them for a few days at a time if you aren’t having to coop them up at night and don’t mind a possibly broken egg or two.
How much work they take rather depends on how many you have, when I had less it was lots easier 
I don’t know if it’s Silver’s breed or her background, or both, but she is a real madam. She was originally owned by someone who kept her in an indoor cage with her mother and a sister, but then wanted rid when the three over crowded and unhappy hens started to fight. Silver was handed to rescue and the rescue then called me and made her my problem I love her, she’s a diva drama queen who goes broody for months at a time and makes everyhen’s life hell, but she’s such a character
This is my garden currently, they’re securely enclosed even with a chicken wire roof. The little hen that’s separated is just getting used to being outside as she was almost bald when she came to me and was constantly bullied and plucked by the others, so I’ve had her living in my bedroom for months and turned her into a spoilt diva princess.
