Should we raise backyard chickens?



image courtesy of artur84/freedigitalphotos.net

"I want to raise chickens," I said.  He gave me one of those looks - eyes laughing, small smirk.  He was used to my list of unconventional projects - but this wasn't like the retro trailer I still haven't restored or the harpsichord building project that never got off the ground.  These were animals that need daily care.  And we live in the suburbs.

Chickens?

Maybe it was from my experience with chickens as a child.  When I was in elementary school I had a pet chicken.  I grew up in a large family - and we were each given a chicken to name and help care for.  I thought of the most beautiful name my 7-year-old mind could think of:  Julie.  Julie was an Araucana hen.  She would lay eggs with aqua-blue shells.  I really remember very little of the chickens, other than collecting eggs (the warm bellies of the hens), their quiet clucks and occasional cackles, and how I was afraid of the roosters.

Or maybe I was influenced by social documentaries on the food industry.  Watching Robert Kenner's movie "Food, Inc."  made me feel a little less-than-pious when I bought eggs from cartons touting they came cage-free hens.  Prior to watching the show, I imagined the hens free-ranging on a small neighborhood farm.  But pictures of the hens overcrowded in dusty conditions erased the story I told myself when I bought my weekly eggs.

Maybe I wanted chickens because of health considerations.  I had been organic gardening for about four years and I heard that backyard chickens frequently have a better quality egg.  They have beautiful orange yolks that are higher in Omega-3's and lower in cholesterol.

Perhaps this new idea came when two of my neighbors started raising hens.  Before they did, I didn't even know that our suburban neighborhood permitted backyard poultry.  Two phone calls later (city hall and our community management company) I learned that I too could be the proud adoptive parent to these lovely birds.

Whether for the health of my family, the chickens, or just to have a pet -- I wanted chickens.  "I'm sure I will learn to love chickens," he said.  And so my chicken raising adventure begins.