Kids & chickens; it's a Match Made in Heaven

My Mother always used to tell us the story about her Aunt Jo being asked to fetch the eggs from the chicken coop. Aunt Jo was a young girl at the time and had collected eggs many times but apparently never put two and two together and figured out where the eggs came from. When she went into the coop on this day a hen was in the middle of a lay and she got to see the egg pop right out of that chicken's butt.  It freaked her out so badly that by all accounts she never ate another egg in her life.

I like to keep a basket by the front door and whenever a child is visiting it never fails to be the highlight of their day, collecting the eggs for us. There is nothing like seeing those bright faces as they find the brown and blue treasures in the nests and carefully come back with them.

My great-niece Ava collects the eggs for my sister (her Grammie), too.  

Andrew

Our Grandson, Andrew, who spends every other weekend here on the farm with us, has made it his job when he is here and on those weekends no one else is allowed to get them. He checks for eggs sometimes three times a day.  Once, when we had been out of town and missed a day of collecting, Andrew went out on his regular run and came running back in the house screaming for his Dad. "Dad, Dad!! Look, there's nine eggs!" He was used to collecting 3 or 4 a day and his dad said he may as well have won the lottery. That was three months ago and he still talks about it like an angler talks about his finest catch.

Our Great-nephew, Trent. The face says it all
When Andrew isn't here our neighbor sometimes comes down to get them for us.  And sometimes our friends' kids are here and I send them out with the basket. The rookies creep cautiously around the coop just to make sure the chickens aren't too close to them but when they see those eggs in the nest, the worry turns to wonder and excitement. So cool to watch and a great farm lesson for the young ones. Teach them early where their food comes from.

Anabelle

neighbor, Audrey

I figure if Aunt Jo had only ever seen eggs come from a cardboard carton from a shelf in the store instead of her own back yard, maybe she would have experienced the wonder and excitement instead of the disgust. But Andrew, even though collecting eggs is one of his favorite things to do, would agree with Aunt Jo about them being 'gross'. He won't eat them either.