Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs

A few months back we met Orren Fox through Twitter. Immediately we were fascinated with this 12 year old chicken farmer and animal rights activist. Orren Fox is the creator of Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs, a blog that talks about the importance of free range chickens, and shopping for locally raised happy chickens if you choose to eat meat. Orren loves animals and is a committed vegetarian. He is a walking example of the notion that no matter your age, you can make a difference and you can change the world. By starting small, where you are and with what you have, you can generate ripples that will reach far beyond where your eyes can see. Check out what Orren has to say in our exclusive interview.

RFN: Tell us a little about yourself.
Orren: Hi. I’m 12 and going in to 7th grade. I live North of Boston and go to a school where we have a big greenhouse. We grow veggies there for our local food pantry (http://happychickenslayhealthyeggs.blogspot.com/search/label/School) I love animals. I am a committed vegetarian, but understand when someone else wants to eat meat. I’m just not going to. If you do please consider eating locally raised, happy chickens. Just this spring I became really interested in honey bees, so now we have a hive at school! I plan on going to Bee School this winter. I have 24 chickens and 3 call ducks.

RFN: How long have you loved animals and why?
Orren: I think I was just born that way. I feel like I can understand what animals are saying.

RFN: Is there any reason in particular why you love chickens?
Orren: I’m not sure really. I visited some friends when I was 81/2 and they had chickens. I instantly became really interested in them, so we found all the books we could about chickens and I read them, then my good friend Dorothy who lives across the street introduced me to Julie who has a barn about a mile from my house. She had chickens.  I volunteered with Julie for about a year, then one spring she said she thought I should get my own hens. It was one of my favorite days of my life. We went to our local farm store and picked out my new hens. I couldn’t stop looking at them, and hugging them. That’s when I started to blog about chickens. My mom loves technology and wanted me to learn how to use it.

RFN: Can you give us some quick facts about happy chickens?
Orren: Happy Chickens are allowed to do natural chicken things – perch, be in the sunlight, dust bathe, eat bugs. Happy chickens could be call Pastured Eggs. A study done by Mother Earth News and Gourmet Magazine in 2007 found:

• 4 to 6 times as much vitamin D as typical supermarket eggs
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene

RFN: What is a typical day like for you?
Orren: I leave for my school at about 7:30 and get home from school around 5, then I go to the barn. The barn is always so alive. The hens are talking, the roosters are so proud they come right up to me to tell me what they did that day and my Call ducks are very busy. The Call ducks seem to want to keep everyone in order.  I think if they could they would be organizing classes in the coop, actually maybe they are.

RFN: How can people find out more about Happy Chickens and everything you do?
Orren: On twitter @happychickens and @happyhoneybees and my blog Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs

RFN: What’s next on the horizon for you? (we hear you’re getting into bees..what’s the plan with that?)
Orren: YES Bees. I am reading several bee books for my summer reading. I was able to get a beehive on campus and I plan to go to Bee School this winter. I find bees so interesting. I think they are natures engineers. Did you know that when the hive gets really hot in the summer the bees will carry a bit of water back into the coop and hover about and flutter their wings to cool it off!

RFN: If you could say one thing about the importance of eating locally raised foods, what would that be?
Orren: I think eating locally is really important because you will get the most nutrition from your food, supporting your local farmers is the only way to keep them in business, and it is the environmentally responsible thing to do. I also think equally important is ethical eating. If the animals you choose to eat weren’t raised ethically I don’t think people should eat it.

Most eggs in the supermarket are from hens that were truly tortured. I’m not into that. I think we can change the supermarket though, we can vote with our forks. Please see the movie Food, Inc. I took my parents and want to see if I can show it at school.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT: O’s Free Range Kid T-shirts
Support Orren’s cause. ALL of the money goes towards his goal to raise $500 for Heifer International flocks of chickens. “With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer International has helped more than 7 million families move closer to self-reliance. Chickens boost family income and nutrition worldwide, providing a steady supply of protein-rich eggs. A single egg provides the daily requirement for a 3 year old child”

Presently in stock he has adult mediums in red, kids mediums in green, and two long sleeve large shirts in navy blue. They are $20/each plus $5 for shipping. It’s the perfect gift that is unique to give and supports a great cause. To purchase a shirt, contact Orren directly via email: thehappychickens@gmail.com

By rawfoodnation Tags: Happy Chickens, Healthy Eggs, Orren Fox
Posted in In The News | 2 Comments »

2 Responses to “Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs”

1. Raw.la - Raw Food in The News and Around The Web says:

   August 10, 2009 at 5:14 am

   [...] Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs [...]
2. ponet says:

   August 10, 2009 at 4:19 pm

   ORREN!!! SO PROUD OF YOU DUDE!!! You are rockin’… Gotta get that T-Shirt with an autograph before you get on the front cover of times magazine.

   [Reply]