How a Midwestern family with no agriculture experience went from a few backyard chickens to a full-fledged farm—and discovered why local chicks are better.When Lucie Amundsen had a rare night out with her husband, she never imagined what he’d tell her over dinner—that his dream was to quit his office job (with benefits!) and start a commercial-scale pasture-raised egg farm. His entire … entire agricultural experience consisted of raising five backyard hens, none of whom had yet laid a single egg.
To create this pastured poultry ranch, the couple scrambles to acquire nearly two thousand chickens—all named Lola. These hens, purchased commercially, arrive bereft of basic chicken-y instincts, such as the evening urge to roost. The newbie farmers also deal with their own shortcomings, making for a failed inspection and intense struggles to keep livestock alive (much less laying) during a brutal winter. But with a heavy dose of humor, they learn to negotiate the highly stressed no-man’s-land known as Middle Agriculture. Amundsen sees firsthand how these midsized farms, situated between small-scale operations and mammoth factory farms, are vital to rebuilding America’s local food system.
With an unexpected passion for this dubious enterprise, Amundsen shares a messy, wry, and entirely educational story of the unforeseen payoffs (and frequent pitfalls) of one couple’s ag adventure—and many, many hours spent wrangling chickens.
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Never could finish this. Completely disappointing.
I learned so much about the problems of small business. Well written!
This was a fun book to read because it was so well written. This writer is observant and is hilarious! I also learned a lot about farming, agriculture, and eating local. Highly recommend this book.
Delightful fact and fiction delivery. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about eggs and chickens and enjoyed every minute. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a fun light read.
Honest look at mid level farming in America
cute read
Boring
A cleverly written informative book about egg farming. I was hooked!
Very funny book demonstrating the realities of working a farm when you have no experience.
Loved it. Learned a lot.
This book is wonderful. Nice characters
I know a lot more about chickens and eggs than I did before.
This book presents some harsh truths that I was not expecting when I downloaded this book late at night for a pleasant read while I fell asleep. I did not understand from the description that chicken raising can be horrifying. I don’t think it was blown out of proportion.,..but the cute cover picture really threw me off. I did not finish the book.
For those interested in where our food comes .
I read 52% of this book and learned more about chickens than I ever wanted to know. Unless you’re chicken enthusiast I don’t recommend this book.
Interesting account of city folk who become organic egg farmers.
The writer is witty and engaging about a rather off beat topic. Great insight into the heartaches and rewards of owning your own business.
This was a great book. It’s the type of book I’m always looking for. A couple creates an egg farm after the husband looses his job. Both are liberal arts college grads just trying to balance the necessities of living with some idealism and interest with the “locally grown” idea. After many twists and terms they finally create a business. It’s a great read!!!
It is an honest story of a couple that had a dream and was slapped with reality and rose above it. It is funny and heart warming. It will inspire you to dream and keep moving forward.