I am sitting in our sun room looking out on the chicken yard and enjoying watching the young hens scratch through the leftover oatmeal I put out for them. It reminded me to write that although backyard chickens are a source of entertainment and fresh eggs, they are not very economical. Once you build or buy a coop, put up a fence, by chicken food, a chicken watering dish and a pair of boots to walk amongst the chicken droppings, you would have to have chickens for about 100 years to have their eggs pay off. Maybe if you start with a fence, you might be able to make the math work. The non-monetary value of backyard chickens is great though. Just last week my two young daughters, Indigo and Antonia, were in the chicken yard (with their boots on) picking up and playing with the chickens. I was moving firewood back and forth from the barn to the side porch for easier access. As I walked back and forth, I overheard the girls talking. Indigo said "Look, Tonia, this one has bumps on its pecker." Antonia replied "This one has bumps on its pecker too." Preoccupied, I kept loading wood without processing this much. I walked by again and heard Indigo say "This one has a yellow pecker." I stopped, thinking "Wait. What?" I went over to the side of the fence to observe. Antonia looked up at me "Look Mommy, this one has a black pecker and that one has a yellow one." I said "You're right, Antonia, but let's call those beaks."
That incident alone may be worth the price of the fence.
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