Backyard chickens are growing in popularity – not just with the country crowd, but with suburban and urban enthusiasts. Perhaps this increase has to do with stress relief and reconnecting with agrarian roots. Call it what you will, but hens – and their fresh eggs – are here to stay.
So when a chicken enthusiast from a small town in Maine started authoring a wildly popular blog on the subject of hens and hen fruit, Lisa Steele found herself cast as a leading authority on the poultry mania sweeping the country. With beautiful photography skills and a lot of down-home chicken wisdom, Fresh Eggs Daily has become a sensation.
From jaded beginnings (“Remind me to tell you about the mean rooster that used to chase my brother and me”), Lisa rediscovered her love of hens after a bit of marital compromise.
“I entered the world of chicken-keeping in 2009,” she says. “I wanted goats. My husband countered with chickens. The rest is history.”
History, indeed. Lisa is busy making it, dispensing advice and answering questions as novice chicken fans get drawn into the exciting world of backyard poultry.
Lisa advocates all-natural methods of care. “The decision to raise them naturally was never even up for debate,” she says. “I don’t like using chemicals or commercial medications myself or on our other animals. Why would I advise using them with chickens?”
From the depth of her expertise, some might think Lisa is the steward of hundreds of hens – but she’s not. “We currently have eight laying hens, most of whom are 6+ years old,” she says. “That prompted me to increase the flock a bit this spring, since we also have 14 chicks/pullets. One is a little bantam rooster who couldn’t be cuter!”
Lisa has a mixed flock, and as a result fills “a basket with blue, green, tan and pinkish eggs.”
Lisa’s online presence started when friends encouraged her to join Facebook, then complained about all the chickens photos she posted. “I started my blog a year later,” remembers Lisa, “after realizing I was drawing a crowd. People kept asking the same questions over and over, so I figured I could write an article once and then just link to it.”
From there, things snowballed into a towering media presence, with appearances on everything from the Wall Street Journal to HGTV. “I think it was a lot of being in the right place at the right time with the right message,” she says. “I started talking and people started listening. So many were looking to feed their families more healthfully, and they wanted to be more self-sufficient. Fresh eggs were appealing to foodies, and being genuinely passionate about what you do is something readers respond to.”
Editor’s Note: Lehman’s hosted Lisa in September 2019 for a booking signing. For the latest store events and visitors coming to Lehman’s, check out our store events page.
