Out of the Whey Farm provides food and board to a small flock of hens, no three of which are alike. In exchange, these ladies patrol the paddocks and pastures in search of fly larvae, snails, slugs, and other troublesome pests which they incorporate into their diets. As a result they lay eggs with bright, almost orange yolks that make store eggs pale (adjective and verb!) in comparison. The girls are getting along in age and, therefore, producing fewer eggs, but they will always have a home here on the farm and a field to patrol.

Trying to figure out what breed that rooster is? Well, don’t tell the ladies, but I got him at Ross. He is the strong, silent type, with the mettle of metal—literally. And although he is really quite abstract in appearance up close, he is often mistaken for a real rooster by visitors if not by the girls.