I was around age 12 when I hatched two chicks in one of those tiny, plastic, nightlight bulb incubators sold in the back of Field & Stream Magazine and, thanks to very patients parents, developed a small flock of about 5 birds. In our little town, I became that odd kid who rode around with a rooster on his bike's handlebars. Looking back, I can only imagine what people thought. That flock went to a farm when I graduated high school, but the interest remained, and 10 years later, shortly after my partner and I bought our first house, I dragged home two chicks from the farm store. That was a dozen years ago and we and our neighbors still enjoy our small urban flock of five hens.
