{"product_id":"2940169722345","title":"Locally Laid: How We Built a Plucky, Industry-Changing Egg Farm from Scratch","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow a midwestern family with no agriculture experience went from a few backyard chickens to a full-fledged farm ¿ and discovered why local chicks are better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Lucie Amundsen had a rare night out with her husband, she never imagined what he¿d tell her over dinner ¿ that his dream was to quit his office job (with benefits!) and start a commercial-scale pasture-raised egg farm. His entire agricultural experience consisted of raising five backyard hens, none of whom had yet laid a single egg.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo create this pastured poultry ranch, the couple scrambles to acquire nearly two thousand chickens ¿ all named Lola. These hens, purchased commercially, arrive bereft of basic chicken-like instincts, such as the evening urge to roost. The newbie farmers also deal with their own shortcomings, making for a failed inspection and intense struggles to keep livestock alive (much less laying) during a brutal winter. But with a heavy dose of humor, they learn to negotiate the highly stressed no-man¿s-land known as middle agriculture. Amundsen sees firsthand how these mid-sized farms, situated between small-scale operations and mammoth factory farms, are vital to rebuilding America¿s local food system.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith an unexpected passion for this dubious enterprise, Amundsen shares a messy, wry, and entirely educational story of the unforeseen payoffs (and frequent pitfalls) of one couple¿s ag adventure ¿ and many, many hours spent wrangling chickens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn EChristian, Inc production.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Audio, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104687145200,"sku":"2940169722345","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169722345_p0.jpg?v=1769899111","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169722345","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}