We don’t have to worry about the eggs we eat at our homes, they came from the local library! A couple years ago, MCPL’s Edgerton Branch incubated chicken eggs with the children at storytime. After everyone enjoyed the experience of hatching baby chicks, our family checked out books to learn how to build them a coop. Today, the hens live happily ever after with the librarian and her zoo of a family. You can raise chickens too! Don’t count yourself out just because you live in the city either. Many cities allow a limited amount of backyard poultry.
The syndrome developed gradually after browsing home and garden magazines. I'm calling it C.R.S. or Chicken-Raising Syndrome. How could one not be smitten after seeing beautifully designed spaces for fowl? The romantic dream of resplendent hens contentedly leaving warm, brown, earthy eggs each summer morn, bit me.
For the last several years now, the Blue Springs North Branch has either had an incubator to hatch chicken eggs, or brought in live chicks. A lot of people seem to enjoy them, especially the kids.
Last week, I did my blog on my broody hens. I was expecting them to start hatching this past weekend, and they did! Right on schedule. I could see four on Saturday, and one more hatched on Sunday. So far, I have seven little peepers. Six of the chicks have followed two of the hens (they share the chicks) out of the coop, but one is still in the nest box with the last broody hen.
This past spring, I posted a blog about my family's new venture of raising ten hens. I promised a continuation of the story. I also wanted to introduce the two dogs that live with us, but their appearance in this drama occurs later.
No Clucking, Chickens Are America's New Backyard Obsession
Whether it's for the fresh eggs, the drumsticks, the free fertilizer, or the hours of entertainment, Americans are once again filling their backyards with chickens.
Most of us give no more thought to chickens than to deciding whether we want light or dark, original or crispy. Well, check out this superb documentary by PBS and prepare to be amazed!
