Lynne Paris Purtle

Eggsistentialism Lynne Paris Purtle

Eggsistentialism: What I Learned about Life from Chickens is a humorous memoir-- Marley and Me with chickens. The author's family set out with great optimism to provide a good life for six one-day-old chicks rescued from a feed store, a life without beak amputations, overcrowded battery cages, and an ignominious end at a slaughterhouse. Theirs would be a symbiotic relationship: the humans would provide food, shelter and health care, and the hens would supply them with free omelets, frittatas, and quiches. It turns out that raising chickens is not easy. The hens had had heart-stopping close encounters with everything from killer Barred Owls to prolapsed egg vents. As the months passed, and the author and her husband became more proficient at caring for their pets, they reaped an unexpected bonus: they discovered that chickens are intelligent, curious animals which live joyfully and fully in the moment and form strong bonds with each other and their caregivers. They also learned there is no such thing as a free omelet.