Urban Homesteading- Raising Backyard Chickens on the Rise

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So what did come first, the chicken or the egg?

All jokes aside, apparently raising chickens in your backyard, especially in suburban and urban areas, is becoming a popular trend, if you want to call it that. More and more people are starting to raise chickens for eggs and well, food, in non rural areas across the country.

Depending on the type of chicken, they can lay an egg every day or two, so a couple of chickens could produce up to a dozen fresh, organic eggs for you and your family each week. Can you get any fresher than stepping out of your back door to grab a couple of eggs for breakfast?

Sounds pretty intriguing to me, I must admit, and sort of the “next step” after growing your own vegetables. They don’t need a whole lot of room (just few square feet per chicken) , don’t eat a whole lot (just chicken feed, obviously), and don’t make a lot of noise, unless you make a mistake and accidentally buy a rooster.

The basics necessities required to raise backyard chickens include:

an enclosed area (coop) to protect them from predators
a roost for them to sleep and lay their eggs
food and water

For a wealth of information on raising backyard chickens, visit backyardchickens.com.

I not sure that I am ready to delve into backyard chickens just yet, but I could see myself thinking about doing so some time in the future.

Is the rise in popularity of backyard chickens because of a movement towards self-sufficiency, a desire to save money over store-bought, organic free range eggs, or the novelty of having a farm animal in your own backyard? Probably a little of all three, I would imagine.

photo credit: JenCarole