My husband and I are trying to be more self sufficient and closer to nature so one of the things we have started doing is raising chickens. We live in an area where chickens aren't allowed, because our city government is a bunch of idiots, but we got them anyways and just hope our neighbors don't turn us in.
We have four banties (miniatures), two americanas and two silvers. We will have to get rid of at least one of them maybe two. This is because we can't have roosters and one of them is definitely a rooster and another might be. Sadly it is my two favorites that appear to be roosters. We got them for egg laying even though banties lay eggs about half the size of a regular chicken. We don't really eat many eggs so we figured that half sized eggs were probably more appropriate for us.
So far caring for them has been pretty easy. When they were chicks we kept them in a rubbermaid tub with a heat lamp and they seemed to like it just fine. They are currently in the pullet/cockerel stage and are still doing fine in a larger rubbermaid tub. We are in the process of building a coop for them in the backyard which will hopefully be done in the next week and, colorado weather permitting, we will move the chickens out there as soon as it is finished.
I have to say that I have enjoyed having the chickens around, which we lovingly call our meeps. When I've had a bad day I go sit by their bin and watch them for a while, they seem to have a calming effect. Even my husband, who was originally planning on eating them, has gotten fairly attached to them. I would certainly suggest that everyone with a yard of some sort invest in chickens and enjoy.
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