Egg-zactly

Well, I alluded to some of the reasons for chickens in part one of this series. After having a flock for a year and a half now, I have learned much, and really do appreciate this species. They are much more entertaining than I thought they would be, they run around the yard, kind of stick to one small area, and cluck and cackle pleasantly. They have more personality than I thought too. A couple of my hens want to come in the house and "check things out". They are more pets at this stage than domesticated animals, and a part of my "household". Think about all the other pets people have, dogs, cats, fish, birds, turtles, etc. The noble chicken provides us sustenance, whereas none of the common pets do. They grant us a gift, almost daily, perfectly gift wrapped, and some breeds even color them for us.

It really is a no brainer. If each household had a couple of hens, all that carbon footprint and pollution from factory farms, transportation, not to mention the risk of disease from "old" eggs we buy at the market. Encourage your municipal and county councils/commissions to change many of the outdated laws that disallow having hens, and become one of the many backyard chicken owners.