You can raise backyard chickens. Yes, YOU.

Let's talk chickins.  

 

I said chickens, Dino.  

That's better.  Hey ladies.

Early in our marriage, hubs and I both had a dream of someday raising chickens, but we (mistakenly) thought we needed a big yard, warm weather, and lots of free time to care for them.  So we put our chicken dream on the back burner.  It wasn't until I heard this story on NPR about the rise of backyard chickens that I started to realize that we could make our chicken dream a reality.  I believe it was in this interview that the author said, 

"If you can care for a cat, you can raise chickens."

Hmm.   

Now let's get this out there right now:  I am a child of the suburbs.  Before the chicks, the closest would I get to agriculture was if my husband dragged me to Fleet Farm, and even then I would hide in the aisle with the giant gummy worms and circus peanuts.  Farming is not in my nature.  But after seeing them in Normal People's homes and doing a little more research, raising chickens started to seem less intimidating.  We could do this.  Now, over a year later, we can't imagine not being able to walk out our porch and grab fresh eggs every morning.  Eventually we'd like to have 10 chickens.  Maybe a goat.  Maybe two.  A cow.  (A cow?  Who are we?)  

Now to the biggest questions we get asked, in case you're considering getting chickens yourself (do it, do it!):

1)  Isn't it a lot of work?

Nope!  It only takes a few minutes per day to grab their eggs, make sure they have water and food, and toss them whatever kitchen scraps you need to get rid of.  You can even go out of town and leave them to their own egg-laying devices, and chances are they will be just fine.  Some days we just peek at them from the kitchen window, and if they aren't holding up a sign that says, "need food"  we just wave and finish our omelets. 

Dominating a leftover pita pocket.

  2)  Don't they make a lot of noise?  What if the neighbors complain?  

Once upon a time we bought three hens from our local hatchery.  Their names were Ginny, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley.  They were the best of friends, until Mrs. Weasley developed a deep voice and put on a lot of weight and started to wake us up at 5 am.  Turns out that Mrs. Weasley was actually a Mr. Weasley, so back he went.  The end.  It's true that roosters will crow at the crack of dawn, which is why our chicken license (oh yes, we have a chicken license) limits us to no more than 3 non-roosters, who may squawk a little bit but for the most part don't make a peep.  We haven't had anyone complain, and we live within very close proximity to our neighbors.  

One of these birds is not like the others

3)  Aren't they dirty?  I don't want to have to clean up after them.

Neither do I.  Which is why my husband built an awesome chicken tractor that we can move to different spots in the yard.  The great part is that the chicken poop fertilizes the grass and gets washed away in the rain = minimal clean-up.  The most we do is brush off the poop from the laying boxes, about once every few weeks.  

4) How many eggs do you get?

Our chickens lay about 1-2 eggs per day in peak laying season.  And since they are fresh and naturally coated with an antimicrobial layer, they last a lot longer than the [sanitized, bleached] eggs you buy from the supermarket. 

5) What do you do with them in the winter?

Our chickadees are tough little ladies who laugh in the face of sub-zero temps.  But we struggled with this thought, too.  Would their little beaks freeze?  Would their feeties get frostbitten in the snow??  Then we came to our senses and reminded ourselves that chickens have been living outside for thousands of years.  Like, without the help of humans.  We made sure that their coop protected them from the snow and wind and had plenty of insulation in the nesting box.  The biggest hassle was probably making sure their water didn't freeze (hubs put a heat lamp under it, which stayed on all day).  But other than that, they had their down feathers to keep them nice and warm, and they did just fine.


6) What kind of chickens do you have?  How did you know what kind to get?

It pretty much like this - "hey coworker, what kind of chickens do you have?  Ok sweet.  I'll take three of those."  We have Buff Orpingtons, which I kind of view as the yellow lab of the chicken world.  Friendly, easy temperaments, winter-hardy, good layers.  Next we'd like to branch out to more interesting-looking breeds, like Silkies, because, well just look at them.

Chickens or muppets?  Want.

Basically, they are awesome creatures who will enrich your lives and make you appreciate where your food comes from.  And they will eat your leftovers.  Win-win.