The idea of legally raising chickens in your back yard, in town, seems to have come up again. They call them 'urban chickens.' They are talking about it on the evening news. My question is why? I know that the idea of "free range" chickens roaming around you (hopefully fenced) back yard sounds enticing. Fresh eggs whenever you want them, well whenever you want them if the chickens are laying. Did you know that eggs don't come out of the chicken all clean and candled (if you don't know what that is you should learn)? And, if these are truly free range chickens, they won't always lay their eggs in the cozy little coop you have built for them to keep them alive during Indiana winters. In the hot summer they can get quite smelly if you don't find them hidden in the grass, and inspire your father to say some colorful words if he runs over them with his lawnmower (the eggs not the chickens). And then, of course, there is the lure of roasting your own home grown chickens, that is if you haven't made pets of them. If you plan to eat them, don't name your chickens. You probably should practice plucking a friend's chicken before you invest in a flock of your own. Did you know that they really do run around after their heads are cut off? My husband's mother raised chickens in their backyard when he was very young and he was allowed to play with those cute little chicks. He never could stand to eat chicken.
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