Growing up in the country and on a farm, chickens were always around, free ranging, of course. They had wooden boxes in a "chicken house" to lay their eggs, if they wished., otherwise, we children had to hunt them down. Baby chicks were ordered every spring, kept warm till time to set them free...
My hubby decided I needed something un-strenuous to do after a major surgery with long re-coup time. He brought home 8 hens, a rooster and 2 coops, (another story,lol. I fell in love with chickens! They were allowed to free range in the daytime and kept in locked coops at night. . Hawks made...