Trash or Treasure? Chicken Eggs Galore!

We have all heard the saying, right? "One man's trash is another man's treasurer." I don't know about you, but I believe it to be true.

I mean, think about it: Garage sales, thrift shops, eBay, Craigslist... the list goes on and on of places for you to buy someone else's "trash". Or perhaps you didn't buy it at all. Perhaps it was given to you. I consider it to be a true blessing from God when my family is in need (or even want) of something and somehow or another we receive it. A True Blessing Indeed!

Almost a year ago, our family decided to start raising chickens to sell the eggs. Wait. Let me back up.

Our daughter Alyssa is an active member of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and a second year Agriscience (AG) student at her high school. Part of their grade in AG is what is called a Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). Students are required to do this. Alyssa's first year in high school she did her SAE on Small Animal Care. Basically, she took something she was already familiar with doing, taking care of our dog, and made it into a grade. But after completing that project and spending almost a full year in her AG class, she wanted to tackle a bigger project. She decided she wanted to RAISE CHICKENS!

Oh boy! This momma was NOT prepared for that. My husband on the other hand, was much more receptive. He had raised chickens in the past. True free ranging chickens. I thought, "You mean you want chickens to just run around our yard? I don't THINK so mister!" I was quickly assured that we: 1. Live too close to neighbors, 2. Have too many hawks flying above & 3. "No dear, they will be in an enclosed yard."

Whew! OK, I can breath!

Yes, once my daughter and husband convinced me that it was "OK" to own chickens, we got down to researching on the different kinds we wanted. Me personally, got excited with all the different types and would have 100 chickens just to see all the pretty variations.

Fast forward to a few months ago.... MAN! These chickens make a lot of eggs! Why do we have so many eggs? Oh wait.... its because we have 30 chickens! LOL Anyway, we have these 30 chickens (well, 29 hens and 1 rooster) producing eggs. At their peak, we have gotten over 2 dozen eggs a day. Two dozen, times 7 days a week is a minimum of 14 dozen eggs. There is no way we could eat all that! Thank Heaven's part of this project is to actually SELL the eggs. But where do you store 14+ dozen eggs until you sell them?

This is where our "trash and treasure" comes in. (No, I didn't forget the point of my story, I just had to get to it.) We have been saying for MONTHS we needed to get another refrigerator to keep just the selling eggs in. Our poor fridge in the house was jammed full of our normal groceries and then all these eggs. So much so, that on more than one occasion a dozen has fallen out when the door was opened and eggs went SPLAT! on the floor.

So we have been watching the classifieds, listening to the "swap-shop" on the radio, been to a few thrift stores, etc.... all in the hopes of finding a good used fridge. On more than one occasion, while trying to jam something into the fridge, I have lifted up a silent prayer to God "Please let us find a cheap fridge so I can have mine back".

Then it happened! A few days ago, my husband was discussing our dilemma with a friend of his a low and behold HE had a spare fridge that he needed to get rid of and offered it to us! The best part...... we got it for FREE!

HOUSTON! WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!!

Currently, this "not so pretty" little baby is welcoming sight on my carport and I couldn't be happier about it if she was a stainless steel side-by-side with automatic water dispenser that gave me Sonic Drive-In quality crushed ice! REALLY! I am THAT excited! A Blessing Indeed!

Tell me. What do YOU think about the old saying "One man's trash is another man's treasure"?