Author Topic: This made me laugh (Read 4216 times)

Roxy · « **on:** April 22, 2010, 04:52:26 pm »

When I picked up the chicks last night, Alison told me she was hatching some eggs the RIR's had laid before their sad demise.

Oh, have you an incubator, or a broody hen, then asks I. No, we are turning them every day was the reply. The farmer had told her they would be fertile. There they were in a box, and she had been carefully turning them every day. I managed to keep a straight face when I explained that if it were that easy, why are the rest of us putting eggs under broody hens and in incubators. It had not occured to the lady that the eggs would need heat. She was most disappointed that they would not be hatching. I wonder just how long she would have carried on turning the eggs though?

JulieS · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2010, 05:02:50 pm »

Bless her!

A little like some children who were staying in the holiday cottage recently. They were very excited to come and collect the eggs with me on their first day.....I gave them each a little basket to carry and we trotted off down the field.

They were astonished that we were actually going into the chickens pen.......They didn't realise that chickens laid eggs they thought they grew on plants!!!!!!!!

When I took them back to their parents the Mum said she hadn't thought to explain where eggs came from. These little ones were 5 and 3. Surely at that age we knew about eggs??? I know my boys did.

I didn't take on the job of telling them where the sausages and bacon were from

Roxy · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2010, 05:10:24 pm »

The mind boggles doesn't it, but I suppose children brought up in cities, may not have seen livestock close up - neither have their parents maybe!!

My friend has horses, but has lived in a town all her life. She does love animals, and says she would love a little farm. We will have to give her some lessons in egg hatching first won't we!!

JulieS · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2010, 05:51:05 pm »

Might be a good business opportunity there Roxy!....I wonder how many people would love to learn all these things, but are afraid to ask in case they look silly? Absolute beginners classes in country life.

Roxy · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2010, 05:57:39 pm »

Well they should join this forum then, and ask all the questions they like!! I would rather they asked than muddle along themeselves without knowing if its right or wrong. Seriously, I do think children need to know about farm life and animals wherever they live. After all, they eat the food grown in the countryside, so need to know where it comes from......including that eggs do not grow on trees.

joyofchicks · « **Reply #5 on:** April 22, 2010, 11:36:13 pm »

This did make me smile! However, until I hatched some eggs last year with my broody hen, I was pretty ignorant about how an egg actually became a chick. That said, our local primary school, in Aberdeenshire, had a mobile education unit which came to visit the playground complete with a calf, lambs and chicks so the kids could learn about farm animals. The secondary school has a Farming Association for pupils interested in rural affairs. Maybe we are lucky because we live in the countryside where our farming heritage is valued.

Declan · « **Reply #6 on:** April 25, 2010, 11:41:07 pm »

My eldest girl- 4 1/2 came home from nursery on Friday all dissapointed. They had a school inspection at the start of the week and the class had been promised a big surprise if they were good when the inspectors were in.
It must have gone okay because they have been rewarded with a trip to a farm- they were promised that they would see sheep and pigs and hens!!!

Aoife wants to know why they are coming to our house!!!!!

xnbacon · « **Reply #7 on:** April 26, 2010, 02:15:33 pm »

This incident made me chortle the other day. My youngest was attacked by one of our cockerals whilst collecting eggs. OH and I had a discussion to the effect that this was not on and said cockeral would be put in isolation pending relocation to freezer and replaced by one of our batchelor cocks. Anyway, I left OH to deal with it and got on with some other job. A bit later I heard the younger child excitedly telling the older child 'look, its the cockerals birthday!!' 'What on earth...?' I thought as this info could only have come from OH and his interest in chickens extends as far as whether they are laying eggs or not and he wouldn't have known what breed the bird was let alone when it was born. Anyway, looked over to see OH putting the new cockeral in with the hens. Oh the innocence of youth!!

Hermit · « **Reply #8 on:** April 26, 2010, 04:09:18 pm »

There is a book called (something like) A Townies Guide To The Countryside. It is a very good read even for more experienced folk as it explains things so simply and well.My old school had an actual Rural Studies farm attatched to the school complete with hens, pigs, a young calf on loan for a month in summer and grew veg and herbs for the school canteen. It was a suburban secondary school. My primary had lessons on a Wednesday that you could choose from including Ornithology and wildlife/flowers.Lessons like that would be considered too dangerous or disease ridden now.

CameronS · « **Reply #9 on:** April 26, 2010, 05:40:43 pm »

One of my friends, used to think think that milk came from the sky, i don't know where he go it from, but he stopped talking to me for days because i showed him with great detail where milk came from.
I suppose the not talking came from the cow messing on his shirt

xnbacon · « **Reply #10 on:** April 26, 2010, 06:14:10 pm »

We just had a conversation with someone old enough to know better as to how much salt there was in our pigs compared to say beef or lamb. After I tried telling her we had to be a bit careful incase the extra salt gave them high blood pressure, a more amiable person informed her that the salt was put in gammon and bacon AFTER the pig was killed!!

little blue · « **Reply #11 on:** April 26, 2010, 07:31:14 pm »

a grown man of 38 told me the other day he thought ponies were just young horses, and would grow up to be big horses!
yet he knows what Shetland ponies are ?!

Elissian · « **Reply #12 on:** April 27, 2010, 12:23:41 pm »

Someone i sold eggs to the other day looked more than a little disgusted when he notice a cockerel in the pen. "could these eggs be fertile " he asked. He wasn't sure he could eat them if that was the case even though i cracked one open and asked him if it looked any different to any other egg he'd eaten. It hadn't occured to me that it would be something people might be concerned about. I pointed out that people had been known to put supermarket eggs in an incubator and hatch chicks. His wife told him to stop fussing and bought the eggs anyway.

joyofchicks · « **Reply #13 on:** April 27, 2010, 11:01:57 pm »

Quote from: Hermit on April 26, 2010, 04:09:18 pm

My primary had lessons on a Wednesday that you could choose from including Ornithology and wildlife/flowers.Lessons like that would be considered too dangerous or disease ridden now.

My 11 year old will be out in her wellies tomorrow with her classmates rejuvenating the school wildlife garden with the help of Banff college staff. They've collected wild flower seeds, made bug houses and bird feeders, woven willow etc and been out in all weathers throughout the year!