Visiting with my neighbor, John, and his daughter not long after I moved into the Little House, the subject of my chickens, Virginia and Mary Jean, came up.

In response to his daughter’s quizzical look, my neighbor enlightened (both of us) with: “Oh, you know… how’s it’s really fashionable to have chickens in your yard and all that now days.”

Keeping it classy with Mary Jean

.
Well, let me just say that when I first started telling people about my plans to keep hens, I don’t recall ‘fashionable’ ever coming up. Actually, I was informed by one friend that I am quote: “the kookiest person I know… but not in a bad way.” So, thank you John, for thinking of me as en vogue, rather than insane.

So far, raising Virginia and MJ has been a great experience. Because of my great experience, I think that YOU (yes, you there thinking that this has nothing to do with you) should give a try too. ***Check with your neighborhood’s regulations before purchasing chicks… as you may need to relocate before starting your flock.***

Absolutely  not! If you’re planning to have only a few hens in your backyard, you should plan for less than 10 minutes per day spent tending your flock. Plus their feed is cheap cheap (pun intended).

No… if you clean out your coop on a regular basis. I personally hose down and change out the bedding about every other week. This takes about 30 minutes.

Yes. Period. You just have to taste it to get it.

Probably. My coop (for 2 hens) is less than 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide. I let them free range in an area which is maybe 1000 square feet.

Arkansas Local Food Network is truly an awesome place to get local food stuffs, but I’m telling you, chickens are just plain fun! You just can’t buy this:

Since I’m still in the novice stage of flock-tending, I have lots of room to improve. Check out a couple of backyard coops my friends have built… yes, I realize that these shame my dinky excuse for a hen house:

Brittany and Jacob’s coop, as pictured with ‘Pig’