Looking for Something?

Friday, February 1, 2008

Why I Have Chickens

Now, you may be wondering why someone would want chickens. It seems that the people that I tell about my chickens, most respond in one of three ways: 1)They either laugh and think I'm crazy, which is pretty much true, I am a bit crazy. 2)They are fascinated by it, want to know all about it, but would never actually do it. 3)Then there are the people that are fascinated by it, want to know all about it, and actually want to try it out. It seems that there are an equal amount of each type of person.

Now, I am a bit of an idealist. When I think of chickens, I don't think of stinky chicken coops, predators, the cost of keeping chickens, or the reality of it all. I picture beautiful Cinderella doing her chores singing while she is throwing feed to the chickens. I think of waking up and collecting beautiful brown eggs each morning. I imagine feeding my family eggs for breakfast that were freshly collected that very morning. I envision myself giving away beautiful fresh eggs from chickens that I have raised. I imagine my children selling the eggs to earn a few dollars during the summer. The best part of raising chickens, is that it really is all of those things I dream about. Yes, you do have to worry about the day to day chores that go along with having chickens, but their upkeep and cost is very minimal. It makes me feel that I have a piece of this:
Instead of the reality I'm in:(image from threadless.com)



~marisa

4 comments:

m. said...

i'm sold!

Anonymous said...

I have always wanted to do this. Is it legal inside city limits to keep chickens?

Unknown said...

Most cities it is legal to keep chickens. You would want to check with the local municipal codes first before getting started. www.municode.com or www.amlegal.com both have access to municipal codes for larger cities for free. You could also google your city's municipal codes or call the local health department. It is also a good idea to bring your neighbors some of the eggs every once in a while!

Emily Cole said...

Oh Marisa, I am in the same boat! I have finally convinced my husband that we should have some hens for eggs, and we've decided 6 would be good. I've even drawn up a plan for the coop and a large run in our back yard. We now have to get a permit from the town we live in, and written permission from each neighbor within 500 feet! UGH - I'm so afraid it's going to NOT happen for me... and I SO want to have chickens! I'm sure my family will think I'm crazy - there will be a blog post on my site soon which will be very similar to yours I am sure!