Loving these chicken stories that have been appearing on HN this week. As I write this, my backyard flock is happily clucking around my ankles, eating spiders and bugs from the vegetables growing in my garden. When I announced to friends and family on Facebook that we were getting chickens, I was surprised at the number of negative comments that I got. Most concerned the health and safety of my toddler son. "Why are you bringing disease into your yard?", people asked. The fear and hate of backyard poultry surprised me. Where, exactly, do these people think their eggs come from? Had they ever visited a commercial poultry farm? It's amazing how disconnected most of us our from our food. After a few months of chicken raising and a summer of vegetable farming, I have a whole new appreciation for the effort and difficulty--but also the joy and satisfaction--of food production. I highly encourage anyone with a backyard to give it a shot. You'll eat better and it will change the way you look at food.
If you're interested in chickens, here's my favorite subreddit:
i spent my early years in a little mountainous valley in virginia where, each week, the mother of the family across they way would take her eggs to the local post office/general store, sell her eggs for the week, and then buy eggs. she wasn't "about to eat them nasty old hens' eggs." people can be disconnected from their food if they choose to be, no matter their circumstances.
If you're interested in chickens, here's my favorite subreddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/BackYardChickens/
My baby girls:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/defender90/14826096908/
They are: a Black Australorp, a Dominique, a Rhode Island Red, and an Easter Egger.