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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This is an entertaining, but informative book about the true story of the Locally Laid Egg Company.
This was an interesting read. Starting and running a small to mid sized egg laying operation was full of unexpected twists and turns for these folks. It seems to me that when it comes to eggs the closer to home the better.
I will stick with my small flock of 10 – 15 free range hens and the occasional rooster. Can’t imagine anyone wanting to take on the big boys. If more Americans had backyard flocks, including restaurants we would all eat better, the hens would be happier and we would put the factory egg operations out of business. Get with it people.
I loved the book…but was so impressed with all the work they put into the egg farm…and her humor and realism throughout
I liked this book. I learned a lot about a subject I knew nothing about, chicken farming! Occasionally I learned a little too much and got a little bogged down by some of the facts, but all in all I really enjoyed it. Who knew?
I learned a lot about the world of small to medium size chicken farming.
Who would have thought one would learn so much about chickens reading this book, and that it would be interesting? The story concerns a man who had decided he would and could learn to raise chickens on a chicken farm to sell the eggs, much to his wife’s dismay. They had backyard chickens and that worked out fine, so why not? Because she loved him dearly she stuck by him, often helping, through out the adventure.
So how many chickens does one need to make a profit? The numbers are amazing.
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the eggs I eat.
What a great writer. I loved her descriptions, and her wonderful sense of humor throughout. I want these folks to succeed with their farm!
I enjoyed reading this book! I could relate as I grew up on a farm.
It was a fun read from beginning to end.
An accurate view told beautifully of the difficulties of starting an agricultural business. Well worth the read
Loved this book. I have a whole new respect for chicken farmers. I grew up on a farm so it was very realistic. Good job.
A great read about real people risking it all for ideals. Very good read
The book starts out great and keeps one interested; however, toward the end of the book, the author gets too involved in details. I wanted to hear more of the personal interest areas of the book, not necessarily how many eggs were produced and how many were marketed, etc. with a lot of detail.
Fun to live along with her and her family. Along towards the end I realized I could see if I could find these people and that also made for some fun discoveries.
Very interesting look at a new way of raising laying hens. Loved it.
Absolutely loved this book. I love the authors wit. It was to have real life account of how much work it is to set up a small business.
I enjoyed this book – especially since I am growing my little chicken farm. It was inspirational and I appreciated that they shared the realistic life of launching this type of business.
If you like chickens it’s very interesting
This was well written, funny and very informative! Loved every page!