* WHY CHICKENS?

When I was in elementary school I slept over at a friends house in the country. In the morning, we collected the eggs for breakfast. I remember being in that hen house just after dawn, reaching under a big brown hen and pulling out a big, perfect, fresh egg - and it was WARM. With young eyes filled with wonder, cupping this miracle, the seed was planted. Someday, I would grow up and have chickens.

Aside from the simple joy of collecting eggs before work in the morning, there's the fact that I'm a pet freak. Chickens make rewarding pets - I've never felt so much like Snow White as when sitting on a stool with a chicken on each knee, each shoulder and one resting comfortably on top of my head. The chickens on my shoulders rubbed their heads around on my neck, tasted my glasses gently and played with my earlobes. The chickens on my knees wiggled as I petted them and played with my ring. The chicken on top of my head just made me a little nervous. I could sit in the sun and watch those hand raised chickens scratch, bath and eat for hours.

Here are the tangible reasons:

1.) Eggs.
There's not an egg at any store you go to that will be as absolutely delicious as an egg laid by one of your own chickens. Aren't big healthy tomatos and vegetables fresh picked from your garden incomparable next to month old vegetables shipped in from across the country? Is a hard greenish baseball sized peach from the store even in the same league as a huge peach ripened on the tree in the sun (so ripe the skin breaks under your fingers) dripping with sweat juices? You'll never truely know what your missing until you've had fresh eggs.

2.) Chicken Manure:
It's like black gold for your compost. It's the richest source of free nitrogen you could ask for, so rich you have to let it sit a year in the composter before using or it will burn your garden.

3.) Feathers:
For stuffing pillows, for arts and craft projects, for tying to fishing lures - there are lots of things to do with feathers that are shed naturally from your chickens.


*CAN YOU DO THAT IN THE CITY?*

The answer here can be yes or no, depending on how you go about it. A few cities may not have ordinances on keeping fowl - if you live in one consider yourself lucky. Most cities will have ordinances.

In our major U.S. city the rules are that you have to apply to the city, petition your 10 closest neighbors (have 8 out of 10 sign a petition saying you have their permission)to receive a license and then have inspections of the place you keep them done.

There are, of course, folks who may choose to find ways to keep their chickens without the red tape (just as there are folks who keep dogs and cats as pets without a dog or cat license).

Whether you decide to keep your chickens with a license from the city or not, here are some neighborly considerations:

* A rooster (male chicken) can be heard a mile away and people WILL know if you have one. People often find roosters crowing in the city a nuisance and will probably report it to the city. This can lead to legal problems and the loss of your pets.

* Hens (female chickens) do not need a rooster in order to lay eggs. Without a rooster present the eggs will simply not hatch once they are laid. Unfertilized eggs are as nutritious as fertlized eggs and will not contain "blood spots" inside the yolk when cracked into a frying pan.

* Think "Quiet" in every deliberation. Get quiet breeds of chickens. In housing your chickens, be sure it isn't somewhere that they will be subjected to frightening pets, animals or strangers. Build noise-reduction into your plans.