Are you like me and read all the lables on your food? I find myself reading between the lines of many of these phrases. Is grass fed the same as never fed grain? Does 'fed an all organic diet' mean the grain used was not genetically modified? Does free range chickens mean these are happy chicken fed an organic diet. When I look at what options there are for real, organic and non genetically modified food, I feel like I am loosing ground here. So, I've taken a baby step and embarked on a journey to raise my own chickens.

The journey was not a quick one. Four years ago, I moved to an old farming town just 30 miles west of Boston, Massachusetts. I thought to my self, great...now I can get my chickens. I went to the town hall, and when I asked to have a couple of laying hens, I was met by the town's Building Inspector responsible for overseeing chicken approvals. He was very nice about the whole thing, but strongly suggested that I'd be better off just getting someone elses organic eggs. Aparently having chickens has had a history of causing some differences among neighbors and it was suggested to me that it would just be better not to go down this chicken trail.

Not wanting to cause a ruckous just moving in, I let the chicken idea hit the back burner. But now, four years later, with a looming food crisis, DMZ in chicken eggs (check out this DMZ link too), and even whispers of food riots, I started to research the chicken thing again this year. I wanted to find some evidence I could use to encourage a positive reception to my impending request for four hens.

I found there were a number of communities springing up to help people to raise chickens. There is even The City Farms based in New York City getting people set up to raise their own chickens — I was very excited to find The City Farms, I thought that if they could raise chickens in a small space in NYC, how could my town reject my next request. In my research, I also discovered that the hens are great for organic gardening eating some unwanted bugs. I don’t think they will solve all bug problems though — I was told they don’t like beetles but I am hoping they will give the squash bugs a run for their money.

Well, after putting my trip off to the town hall, my friend Cortni got me to go and ask again about having some laying hens. Armed with these new facts, and more chicken confidence, my request was met with a level of acceptance that I just did not expect. The Building Inspector gave me some ground rules, no noisy roosters, and a limit of four hens. I was quite pleased with these requirements and briskly went home to build a most attractive hen house.

A couple of weeks have gone by, and my hen house is almost done. I should get it finished soon, just as soon as this heat wave is over. When the hen house is complete, my friend Cortni is going to bring me four of her laying hens.

My next story will have the finished hen house along with and update of chicken successes.

Oh - check out Cortni’s multi-colored hen house

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