Hatching a Dream

The first spring in our new home was approaching.
What would be the first step in transforming our city plot into a 1/4 acre into a peaceful, food producing haven?

The more I read about keeping chickens, the more intrigued I became.
The girls wanted pets and I wanted to stop paying $5 for a dozen local, fresh, organic eggs.
Hens seemed the perfect solution!

Being the infoholic I am, I researched *every* detail - cost of building a coop, maintaining the chickens, fencing in our backyard, etc.

We figured out it wouldn't start paying off until after the 1st year.
The fact that the girls would gain an invaluable education on where their food actually comes from, and we could gather fresh eggs from our back yard outweighed all the negatives of start up costs.

I researched our city codes - turns out there was NO clear answer on the legality of chicken keeping within city limits.

Some city officials answered yea, some answered nay, and the written code was more confusing.
Farm animals were prohibited, but there was no clear listing of what a "farm animal" was.

We determined we would go ahead and keep chickens as long as the neighbors were happy, and we would not keep roosters.

Off to the local Tractor Supply I went, with a friend, to purchase some fuzzy baby chicks.