Two years ago I noticed that several mainstream magazines, including Gourmet, published little factoids stating that brown hens lay brown eggs and that white hens lay white eggs. Did they not know, I wondered, that there are hens with feathers like this?

And this?

I contacted Gourmet Magazine to find out where they got their information. I was not surprised that it came from an egg lobbying group. If you go to the United Egg Producer’s web site it states: The breed of the chicken determines shell color of an egg—the white hens lay white eggs and the brown hens lay brown eggs. Which is true, I suppose at commercial egg facilities (I refuse to call them “farms”) where there are only two types of chickens – white and brown.

However, it is not true for this beautiful La Fleche hen. (She looks sweet even with that devil-horn comb!) Her feathers are black and yet she lays white eggs.

How do I know she lays white eggs? That fleshy patch of skin below her eye is her ear lobe. It’s white, so her eggs will be white.

This Wyandotte’s ear lobes are dark-skinned and so she’ll lay brown eggs.

Blue and green egg layers also have dark ear lobes – which can be hard to see under an Araucana’s muff.

The misinformation that the United Egg Producers send out irks me. It’s a subtle and effective propaganda used to get the consumer to see chickens as boring, uniform manufacturers of eggs. It further separates them from the animals that make their food.

Which is a shame, since it’s a colorful and wonderful world out there if you know where to look.

There are so many (some would say too many) special days. This March there is a holiday each day, including Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, National Anthem Day and Dentist’s Day. Not that I don’t love peanut butter or appreciate my dentist, but there’s only one day that I feel strongly about – and that’s LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day to celebrate books, reading and the right to write. Put it in your calendar. March 7, 2012.

Author Kate Messner is organizing children’s book authors to do Skype visits to classrooms. Check out her website to see the list of participating authors. Each author has volunteered to do one free read aloud visit on March 7. I’m one of them! I’ll read Tillie Lays an Egg,

and then we’ll go outside (my backyard is wired for WiFi!) where a couple of boys will want to say hello to the class.

So, if you’re a teacher or a librarian, hurry over to Kate’s site. If you’re a parent, pass the word along. Maybe I’ll get to read to your child!

UPDATE: I’ll be visiting the La Canada School in California!
Please keep in mind that I regularly do Skype and in-person school visits. If you want more information about the program and my fee, please email me.

This weekend I made a 200 mile roundtrip to go here:

It’s the biggest poultry show in the Northeast. At least I think it is. How could it not be? Here’s another view:

These birds are bathed, primped and trained to look good for the judges. The judges handle each and every entry.

I walk the rows, seeing what birds the judges have awarded first places to. I try to improve my eye.

As much as I enjoy the mind-boggling selection of poultry, what I most enjoy is seeing all of the children. There’s a junior showmanship division. There are big kids,

and little.

There are kids walking around, holding chickens. This rooster fell asleep snuggled in his boy’s arms.

And this boy came to meet me and have his book signed!

I met up with friends that I know through blogging. It was good to chat in person. But my favorite conversation of the day was with this goose. He had a lot to say.

It was a very good day.

There was snow on the ground in the morning. Which should have made the rabbit happy.

But as the dark ebbed it was obvious that it was going to be a nasty-weather day of wet snow and fat, cold, not-quite raindrops. Candy waited, impatiently, gnawing the wire at the hutch’s door and ringing her bell. She does not, ever, pee in her house. She waits for the human to come and open up her door and put down the ramp. She is not a particularly cheerful bunny in the morning.

She perks up after she does her business by the fence. It doesn’t matter what the weather, that’s her morning routine. Those of us who have to have a cup of coffee before being civil can relate.

Next, she greets the hens. Or, I like to say, her minions. On good days, she joins them in the morning scramble for the handful of treats that I toss. Sometimes she hops up their ramp and positions herself in the pop-door so that they can’t get out of the coop. That’s the sense of humor that she has.

On days like this, she goes inside to her favorite spot, where she can keep an eye on everyone but they can’t trod on her. Her expression is inscrutable, but her behavior shows that Candy does like the company of chickens.

The miserable weather continued. All of the hens stayed indoors. But Candy, in her thick fur coat (and abundant layer of fat) spent some time gnawing at the pumpkin. After all, a rabbit does get bored and hungry.

At the end of the day the chickens go on their roost and Candy goes back outside, once again, waiting on the human. When she sees me she runs up the ramp and waits at the door for her banana chip. I must have two for her. Candy scarfs down the first one, then looks for the second in her bowl. If that second chip isn’t there, she’ll have a hissy fit – which entails bell ringing and head jabs. Bunnies are not always inscrutable. While she eats, I latch her door, keeping her safe and sound until tomorrow.

Yesterday Agatha and I spent the day at an elementary school. We met with four groups, about 125 children in all. I read Tillie Lays an Egg. Agatha demonstrated how chickens eat, (No teeth! She grinds food with the rocks in her gizzard!) and drinks (No lips! She tilts her head back!) She also pooped, once while on my lap. For the five-year olds, that might have been the best part. Did you know that birds don’t pee? It all comes out in one plop. That’s a fact that I’m sure those children shared with their parents at dinner that evening.

Agatha was perfect. She was calm and friendly. She let the girls wearing shiny pink hair ribbons know how much she liked their sense of fashion by tilting her head and making happy chuck-chuckles. She also liked the red patterns on the boys’ shirts. Agatha sat on my lap while child after child stepped up and cautiously stroked her feathers with their fingertips.

Not all of my chickens could have done this. Twinkydink doesn’t like to be more than 25 feet from the coop. Florence, Agatha’s Speckled Sussex sister is too active and curious. The Rhode Island Reds peck, and would have scared the children. Agatha is perfect because, and I say this with much affection, she is a bird of especially little brain. When the other chickens react to a sudden movement, Agatha slowly looks around. When they’re out foraging and hear me call and come running, Agatha just keeps on wandering around the yard. She’s also a strangely fussy eater. She doesn’t like to try new foods. This is her best trait. When faced with a little girl in a red-sequined Hello Kitty shirt, Agatha doesn’t think, FOOD! like the other hens would. My guess is that she thinks, OOOH, pretty! Agatha is worth her weight in gold.

I’m booking school and library programs. I also do Skype visits. Contact me if interested.