Do the Funky Chicken

Is it only Austin that would have a Funky Chicken Coop Tour? We do love to Keep It Weird. Either way, this tour looks cool to me. We hope to go this coming Saturday, and if we do I'll be sure to share some photos here.

We would definitely love to have chickens at our house, but so far it's still not legal for us. People keep telling us it's not legal at all, but actually it just depends on if you have enough space. We don't. I'm thinking that since more urban communities have been changing their laws, it could happen here too.

I never thought I would want to have chickens. I've seen enough of farm life to know it's a lot of work. I prefer to work in the kitchen rather than the field! And have time left to "work" on the computer! But with my recent interest in local and sustainable foods... well, my thinking has shifted a little. And, James is pretty content to divide the labor with me along mutually agreeable lines: You grow it and I'll cook it!

Just before Christmas, James picked up a book on poultry farming. He had gotten it, along with half a dozen more that had been my Grandad's, from my Granny a few years ago. He carried it around with him all during our Christmas trip, reading bits of it to the rest of us (I guess my mom got the bug, because she has since begun a chicken adventure as well. More on that to come, but for now I'll say that chicken coops are a point of family interest these days!). James and I are an unlikely couple of wanna-be-farmers. He's got little experience besides romantic notion of rural life and farming; I have preferred to be inside with a book in hand from toddlerhood on. But we've started with gardening for now and hey, if Austin goes further into the way of the weird, maybe we'll get to add chickens to our lives. Just in case, we'd better go get some funky coop ideas!