That blows my mind too. Have they considered how the rooster is going to get into those battery cages with 4 (or however many they cram in there) other hens?

What about the people that think that their hens might hatch out some eggs without a roo?

96 did you say? maybe she just forgot.

The way I see it, people in general--and urban people in particular--are so far removed from the sources of their food that many of them simply do not think logically about it. And the next generation - unless helped along - will be worse. "You mean EGGS come from chickens???? Ewwww! Gross."

I am sooo grateful to my parents that I did not grow up that way. We did not raise livestock, but our neighbours did and my parents went out of their way to see that we knew where our food came from. Whether it was gathering wild mushrooms with Dad at daybreak before he went to work, or going to the neighbour's to buy eggs and see the chicks, or watching Dad skin and clean a cottontail rabbit he had snared or shot, or helping out by labelling the packages "minced", "sirloin", "brisket" etc. when Dad bought a side of beef, we knew exactly where our food came from. Gardening too... those hot days we spent weeding and watering plants grown from seed for the "Fall Fair" -- not the most pleasant of memories, but I would not trade one of them. Kids these days, most of them, are underprivileged and no one seems to see it.

Then there are the people who finally realize that a hen only has ONE chute for both eggs and poop... :)

Or that when a chicken eats a bug (or rummages through the manure pile) that stuff is what makes up eggs! *L*

There was a comedian who remarked, "I wonder who the first person was who watched an egg fall out of a chickens' butt and thought, "Hmm, I think I'll eat that!".

Velvet ~:>

Yes, she's 96 and sharp as a tack! I think there were some others in the room (her sisters) all raised on a farm that didn't know. It's not the first time I've run into that.
Maggie makes a good point. Another lady didn't know that potatoes grow underground. I'm sure there are some foodstuffs that I haven't a clue about either :)

I have a sister in law that just amazes me sometimes. My uncle just got some chickens and a rooster. We were all sitting at the table and kind of under my breath and actually just thinking out loud I said he must be going to hatch chicks. She then said "They multply?" It took me a few min. to figure out what to say cause I was so dumbfounded by her response. I said yea, they hatch out of eggs. She said "they do?" I thought I was going to fall out on the floor it took all my might not to laugh. I dont know where she thinks chickens come from just the grocery store I guess. lol

That's a common belief that you have to have a roo to get eggs.

I once gave a dozen green, blue, and brown eggs to a woman at work. She eventually told me that she threw them away because they were "too weird". She told her daughter that the eggs they buy in the supermarket are "painted white". I'll admit that the green and blue ones are unusual, but brown eggs are sold in every grocery store. I always buy brown ones, even though they cost more and taste the same, because they are just so pretty to look at.

Of course, if I take a big bag of tomatoes to work, the round, red "Big Beef" toms always go first. I give them to the office staff and the doctors get whatever is left over, but they want the lumpy, funny colored, heirloom tomatoes, so it works out well.

A lot of "common sense" knowledge is passed down from one person to another. If no one teaches, it makes learning that much harder. Just a thought to ponder.

There are a lot of things in life that from the outside seem difficult and complicated. Its not until you try it that you realize it was pretty straight-forward and simple.

Plus, if you think about all the things people do a certain way just because its always been done that way.

Be gentle on those who have not had the blessing of growing up on a farm or learning from knowledgable people.

I shutter to think of all the "common sense" urban living things I don't know diddle about. Lord help the cityfolk if I ever move to one. They'll be looking at me and thinking "WHAT is she doing?!"

:)
Lili

My favorite mythe my mom in law has told me, she is an old time farm girl.
I was incubating some eggs inside, and she told me after a thunderstorm that none of the eggs would hatch because the thunder will kill them inside the egg. I was glad to disappoint her when all but one or two eggs hatched. She said it must have been because they weren't actually under a hen.

LOL, you have reminded me of something that happened when my husband was teaching science at a junior high school on the island of Guam. Most of the students were Micronesians and spoke English as a second language. My hubby was talking about how in the animal world the female of the species produces the egg and the males produce the sperm and both are required to produce babies. The kids asked, "But what about those little "rooster eggs"? He asked several questions trying to understand the question and it became apparent that they were talking about the small eggs that are laid by very young hens (pullets) when they begin laying. He explained that and his students argued vehemently that the little eggs were laid by roosters. When he tried to tell them that no rooster laid eggs of any size he overheard one student telling another, "Just remember AT SCHOOL roosters don't lay eggs!" 8) So much for debunking myths!

Some scientists conducted an experiment.
They got six monkeys and put them in a big cage.
On the ceiling of the cage was a hook and a stepladder was placed under it.
Every day a fresh banana was hung from the hook where the monkeys could climb the ladder and get it.
But when one of the monkeys tried to climb after the banana,
the scientists sprayed all the monkeys with ice cold water.
Didn't matter which monkey tried, they all got sprayed.
Eventually, the monkeys would attack any other monkey that tried to get the banana.
Then one day one of the monkeys was replaced with a new monkey.
This new monkey had never been sprayed with water so he went after the banana.
Instantly, all the other monkeys attacked him.
He got attacked everytime he tried to get the banana.
Eventually he gave up.
Then another monkey was replaced with a new monkey.
Same as the other new monkey, he went after the banana.
And he got attacked by the other monkeys, including the other new monkey.
The first new monkey didn't know why, but he attacked anyway.
Just because that was the way things were done.
And the second new monkey eventually gave up trying to get the banana.
Then a third monkey was replaced with the same results.
Then a fourth and a fifth, and eventually all six monkeys were replaced.
Not a single original monkey that had been sprayed with ice water was left in the group.
Then one of the new monkeys was replaced with another new monkey.
This 3rd generation monkey tried to get the banana.
And all the other monkeys, even tho they had never been sprayed with ice water, attacked and stopped the new monkey.

Conclusion: The monkeys were doing this just because it was the way it had always been done.

Pooh Bear

If the scientis didn't feed those monkeys for a few days, bet they would have adjusted to water spreys real quick :)
Anyways just off the top of my head i can't think of another animal foul that lays eggs without the assistense of the male ? with al the books/tv schools etc. it's got to be a mental person that doesn't understand where food/grocerys come from, don't fall for their (pretend) ignorance,they just funning ya :)

It's a shame what we allow (myself included) to be taught.
I took my 9 year old grandson to a goat auction, and made an idle comment about buying one to barbeque. He said he could never eat an animal. This from a boy who lives off of fried chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers. On the other extreme(in my case normal) my 5 year old grandson helps me kill, skin,cut up, and eventually eat rabbits I raise to butcher. Only wish I could spend more time with my oldest to ground him in the realities of life.

This was emailed to me by a friend. Its a little off topic, but same idea.

The $2 Bill. Everyone should start carrying them!
I am STILL laughing!! Many of today`s youth are terribly challenged without a computer to tell them what to do!! The story is funny. Lack of education is not funny!!
On my way home from work, I stopped at Taco Bell for a quick bite to eat. In my billfold are a $50 bill and a $2 bill. I figure that with a $2 bill, I can get something to eat and not have to worry about anyone getting irritated at me for trying to break a $50 bill.
Me: "Hi, I'd like one seven-layer burrito please, to go."
Server: "That'll be $1.04. Eat in?"
Me: "No, it's to go." At this point, I open my billfold and hand him the $2 bill. He looks at it kind of funny.
Server: "Uh, hang on a sec, I'll be right back."
He goes to talk to his manager, who is still within my earshot. The following conversation occurs between the two of them: Server: "Hey, you ever see a $2 bill?" Manager: "No. A what?"
Server: "A $2 bill. This guy just gave it to me."
Manager: "Ask for something else There's no such thing as a $2 bill." Server: "Yeah, thought so"
He comes back to me and says, "We don't take these. Do you have anything else?"
Me: "Just this fifty. You don't take $2 bills? Why?"
Server: "I don't know."
Me: "See here where it says legal tender?"
Server: "Yeah."
Me: "So, why won't you take it?"
Server: "Well, hang on a sec."
He goes back to his manager, who has been watching me like I'm a shoplifter, and says to him, "He says I have to take it."
Manager: "Doesn't he have anything else?"
Server: "Yeah, a fifty. I'll get it and you can open the safe and get change "
Manager: "I'm not opening the safe with him in here."
Server: "What should I do?"
Manager: "Tell him to come back later when he has real money."
Server: "I can't tell him that! You tell him."
Manager: "Just tell him."
Server: "No way! This is weird. I'm going in back."
The manager approaches me and says, "I'm sorry, but we don't take big bills this time of night."
Me: "It's only seven o'clock! Well then, here's a two dollar bill."
Manager: "We don't take those, either."
Me: "Why not?"
Manager: "I think you know why."
Me: "No really, tell me why."
Manager: "Please leave before I call mall security."
Me: "Excuse me?"
Manager: "Please leave before I call mall security."
Me: "What on earth for?"
Manager: "Please, sir."
Me: "Uh, go ahead, call them."
Manager: "Would you please just leave?"
Me: "No."
Manager: "Fine -- have it your way then."
Me: "Hey, that's Burger King, isn't it?"
At this point, he backs away from me and calls mall security on the phone around the corner. I have two people staring at me from the dining area, and I begin laughing out loud, just for effect. A few minutes later this 45-year-oldish guy comes in.
Guard: "Yeah, Mike, what's up?"
Manager (whispering): "This guy is trying to give me some (pause) funny money."
Guard: "No kidding! What?"
Manager: "Get this ... a two dollar bill."
Guard (incredulous): "Why would a guy fake a two dollar bill?"
Manager: "I don't know. He's kinda weird. He says the only other thing he has is a fifty."
Guard: "Oh, so the fifty's fake!"
Manager: "No, the two dollar bill is."
Guard: "Why would he fake a two dollar bill?"
Manager: "I don't know! Can you talk to him, and get him out of here?"
Guard: "Yeah."
Security Guard walks over to me and......
Guard: "Mike here tells me you have some fake bills you're trying to use"
Me: "Uh, no."
Guard: "Lemme see 'em."
Me: "Why?"
Guard: "Do you want me to get the cops in here?"
At this point I am ready to say, "Sure, please!" but I want to eat, so I say "I'm just trying to buy a burrito and pay for it with this two dollar bill.
I put the bill up near his face, and he flinches like I'm taking a swing at him. He takes the bill, turns it over a few times in his hands, and says, Hey, Mike, what's wrong with this bill?"
Manager: "It's fake."
Guard: "It doesn't look fake to me."
Manager: "But it's a two dollar bill."
Guard: "Yeah?"
Manager: "Well, there's no such thing, is there?"
The security guard and I both look at him like he's an idiot, and it dawns on the guy that he has no clue.
So, it turns out that my burrito was free, and he threw in a small drink and some of those cinnamon thingies, too.
Made me want to get a whole stack of two dollar bills just to see what happens when I try to buy stuff. If I got the right group of people, I could probably end up in jail. You get free food there, too!

This could just be one on those email folk tails. If not, Its really sad.

Eric

Sure sounds legit to me !!

There was a similar news story about this last year.
A guy tried to pay for something in a Best Buy store with $2 bills.
The clerk called the police and had him arrested.
The situation really took a lot to straighten it out.

Pooh Bear

Here is a link that might be useful: Article - Does Best Buy hate their customers?

I love the $2 bill story and have no trouble believing it. And we've all experienced the teenaged clerk who is completely befuddled, who just has no idea what to do when you give them $10 and a dime for a $5.10 purchase. Doesn't anybody teach their kids how to count change? Don't kids play Monopoly with their parents any more? That's how I learned!

Back to the 96-year-old who was raised on a farm - has she lived on a farm at all since she was a child? 90 years ago, a farmer was likely to raise all his own chickens. Two-day delivery of chicks from McMurray's wasn't around then, so there HAD to be a rooster, for the continuation of the flock. A farm child back then would have no idea you didn't need roosters to get eggs, since there always WAS a rooster. Huge-breasted Cornish cross chickens hadn't been bred yet. Most folks used the same chickens for eggs and meat - and, without roosters, there was no future eggs or meat.

That excuses the 96-year-old, but nothing excuses a kid who won't eat an animal, yet lives on meat. That's just plain sad. The worst part is that I doubt he's an exception, among city kids.

My sister had a couple of farm interns one summer. One called her mother one day and happened to tell her she was harvesting garlic that day. Her mother was amazed that garlic grows on a plant, and just flat didn't believe that the bulb was a root, dug up from underground. Everybody knows garlic is a powder that comes in spice jars! Makes you wonder....

Jeanne

When we moved out to the farm 5 years ago, We planted our garden, In the fall I said I had to go get some carrots, and my grandson (which was 7 at the time) he was getting ready to go get in the car and go to the store! I said what are you doing? Well, we have to get the carrots, I said yes, but they are in the garden. He said NO, they are in the store.
I guess my Kids did'nt teach them where things come from!
They still, won't eat meat here, because they don't know what it is ( chicken, goat, cow, duck, lamb, deer, rabbit,bear,elk) and I won;t tell them. They have eaten all of them at one time or another here!!!!!!!! But that don't matter, they even said it was good after they ate.
littlereo

Sad, isn't it? We raise pigs and turkeys proudly each spring through fall, and hunt our deer and moose to round out the freezer. I hosted Christmas dinner this year for our family and had to go out and BUY a roast beef, as my brother's new family would not eat "anything that had eyes while on your land." My local butcher looked at me funny when I walked up to the counter the day before Christmas. He asked me, "How can you not have enough meat at your house?" I explained the situation, and he just shook his head. My feelings were hurt, and the meal was not nearly as good as it would have been. They wouldn't even take home fresh eggs from our chickens!! I guess I'll never understand... Perhaps they think the chicken has to die to harvest the egg?!?! :-)

My kids are completely opposite. My three year old won't eat store bought chicken or beef. He asks if it is goat meat. It is the only kind he will voluntarily eat. I have been guilty of telling him the hamburger was made with goat meat just so he would eat it. He has to have goat milk, and refuses any other kind when he is at a friends house. My daughter loves duck meat too. I raise ducks and goats and used to breed rabbits.All of which we used as meat too. She has even helped in the butchering process. She thinks it is fun. My son experienced a goat giving birth. Unexpectantly one was in labor and ran infont of him, birthing the baby as she ran, and the baby landed right in front of him. All he had to say was "cool, now we have more goat meat!"

Hi All,

Just wanted to let you know, some of us urban people are reading the Farm Life Forum. I'm in New York City and I learn lots of things here. Besides it's just plain interesting. You have to remenber there are things you do and see every day that we NEVER get to see.

Last year I subscribed to Iowa Farmer Today, the lady in subscriptions thought I was nuts. She kept asking me if I was a farmer. In NYC? I finally told her I was a teacher and wanted to use it in the classroom, which was untrue - but I did give them to a teacher friend who told me her students loved it as a weekly lesson. So for a year I read the farm reports about corn, soybeans, hogs, rainfall, machinery etc.I had so many questions, but no one around here could answer. I learned alot on this forum.

In a lot of ways I do feel like I've missed out on the things you guys have experienced. So, go easy on us urbanites - I might not know how to milk a cow but I'm great at hailing a cab on 5th Avenue in the rain ( a near impossibility). ;)

Susan

PS If anyone knows of a good local paper about dairy farming - I would love that to be my next subscription.

Susan: Even some of us living in the country don't have anything to do with farming or raising animals. I have 2 acres and everything I do would be acceptable on a city lot with strict codes (except for heating with wood). No need to feel apologetic as there are others who also live in cities.

Harry K

Then teach the people folks, I for one went to a chicken farm and paper factory as a child, where as my sister, did not, because we were raised by different family members.

I consider myself the lucky one for having so much opportunity to see both the city and country life. My poor dear sister got bitten by horse by accident as a child, and has never cared for the country life since.

My grandkids will have the opportunity to know both, I insist, can't wait to get them on a horse.

Flo

In my neighborhood, no children left, BUT grandchildren we have. . .I just started last summer with chickens, hens only, and now I am the fav lady of the neighborhood. . . .after they visit me they go home to grandma's and have a Dr. Suess breakfast. . . Green eggs and ham! They are originally quite surprised that the eggs inside my EE's green eggs are normal looking, but they still come back for more. I have no grandchildren yet, but nonetheless, I have lots of grandchildren visits which is great, and they love to just set and watch the chickens for a time as most have never seen a chicken running round the yard before.

Actually I have even had my neighbors come and "borrow" a few hens when they find insect piles, like an ant pile because the word is getting around that my hens make great bug control. I only let them borrow if they haven't been using chems for at least a month, don't worry.

Whenever someone asks whether you need a roo for hens to lay eggs, I ask them whether a woman needs a guy in order to have her "monthly cycle." Then I draw the parallel... Of course, a human female only produces one egg per month. heehee