The Mexico Ledger is introducing our monthly Ag Page this month - see page A8 of this week’s Ledger. This is just a sampling of the local content that will be featured the last Wednesday of each month.

Just when she thought she was out, they pulled her back in. But unlike Michael Corleone in the Godfather (Google it if you miss the reference), ninth grader Rebecca Williams is OK with being pulled back in - to raising chickens.

“I loved having chickens before and thought of them as my feathery babies,” says Williams. “They would follow me around and sit on my arm.”

The return to chicken raising comes in part thanks to Mexico High School’s supervised agricultural experience (SAE) project, which is her farm-fresh-egg-selling business, “Cheeper By the Dozen”. Williams bought chickens Sept. 12 and so far, so good.

“I needed to build a new chicken coop because the one we had before was the shed at my old house,” Williams said. “The run we had was stuck in the ground and rotted out - plus, it wasn’t big enough for all my chickens.”

With a little help from her dad and brothers, a new chicken house was built using recycled pallets.

“Now they have a nice big coop and run,” Williams said.

And the egg business started to thrive, right?

Well, not entirely.

“The worst part was that I didn’t get the first couple of eggs they laid because they decided to start on the coldest day we had all winter and the eggs froze and cracked,” said Williams. “I was so excited to finally have eggs, but disappointed I had to throw them out.”

The first foray into chickens was Williams’s sixth-grade year as her parents (Justin and Janelle) were looking for a farm-fresh egg source. They had around 12 chickens then, which were claimed by Williams and her siblings.

“The one I picked was named ‘Spots’ because she had black and white spots,” she said.

After about two years, the chicken days came to an end, only to renew in 2020. Today, Williams is selling farm-fresh eggs and is raising Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks and Red Sex Link. She hopes to get some Brahmas and would like to start breeding chickens in addition to egg sales. Her brood numbers 18 now after culling some unwanted roosters.

On average, Williams collects a dozen eggs a day, with warmer weather increasing production.

“My project goals are that I can pay my parents back for all the money they have spent on this project,” says Williams. “Once I pay back my parents, I want to expand my business and use the money to help pay for college. I want to be a vet which will take at least eight years, so I will need to sell a lot of eggs!”

And what about the business name, “Cheeper By the Dozen?”

“My mom and I were talking about business names and brain-storming ideas,” Williams said. “She came up with the name but I told her she should spell it like a bird chirping. I liked it because it was a play on words since eggs are usually sold by the dozen.”

Williams also credits her ag advisor, Kendra Allen for her guidance.

Cheeper By the Dozen can be contacted on Facebook or by email: ladybug.rw05@gmail.com.

“Or they can call my mom,” Williams added. “Everyone seems to know her!”

In addition to the help from her parents, her siblings Richard, Ryan and Zach have also helped get the business off the ground.