- eggs from chickens allowed to roam, scratch and spend their day outdoors taste better and are better for you
- chickens will eat all the bugs they find in your yard!! BIG plus.
- chickens can make great pets. They each have different personalities, desire to play, and ability to show affection
- the only way to know for sure that the eggs you buy are from truly pastured chickens is if you have either visited their farm or have raised them yourself
- similarly, raising the animals ourselves will ensure that they are being treated humanely, with dignity, respect and love. We imagine that these birds will be part of the family, just as our other pets are! We do not intend to eat, kill, give away, or sell our hens even once they stop laying.
That being said, Drew and I both grew up city kids and therefore we have NO IDEA what raising hens actually means. We understood vaguely that we would have to buy or build a coop, figure out feed and predator-proofing, but... what else? Then I found out that my neighborhood agricultural hero, Sundari Kraft of Heirloom Gardens was offering chicken keeping classes! We really believe that the fairest thing for us as well as any potential chickens is to be 100% prepared going into it, and this class seemed like the best possible start.
We attended Sundari's class this afternoon and we were THRILLED! She taught us everything we will need to know, including plenty of her own tips and tricks learned by raising her own flock. Every question I initially had were answered... including those I didn't even know to ask! On top of everything, we got to meet her 7 beautiful hens (as well as her four miniature goats, two of which are tiny babies!!) I went in ready to have my mind changed if owning urban hens ended up sounding too complex, too much work, or not my thing. But instead we left even more convinced that our small anticipated flock is truly the right idea.
So, we move forward!
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