Oh I am SO excited for you!
What a great topic and idea! (book) You should get some "real life" photos from here, from people to show how wonderful chickens can be in REAL, REGULAR size backyards! We went a little overboard the first time and ended up with 11 chickens, after swearing we would ONLY get 3! Chicken Math HAS to be in your book! LOL! We talked to our neighbors before getting them and they said they wouldn't mind! One of the neighbors even said, which we didn't know before because they are hermits, is that she LOVED hearing the chicken laying songs because she grew up with chickens. I gave all the neighbors 6 eggs every month and they LOVED them! I ALWAYS was nervous about the chicken songs but people 2-3 houses down said they couldn't hear them! So I only had to give eggs to the houses that I thought heard them! I was just SO nervous we would be reported but Noooooo...everyone lOVED them! Parents would want to bring their kids over all the time to see them!
One thing I loved is SELLING the eggs and sharing in the healthy benefits of the eggs and the LOVE of chickens! I read it here once and it is true, if you want to make quick friends and get closer to neighbors, GET CHICKENS!
We NEVER had a problem with bugs when we had chickens. MAYBE 3 spiders in the house. The year before we got chickens we had a problem with earwigs and I HATED using chemicals. One afternoon we trapped a bunch or grasshoppers that decided to take up residence in our rose bushes in the front. We caught as many as we could and the chickens just went CRAZY over them! Chicken Football is the best to watch! LOL! Our grass was never greener, especially with the dog urine spots. It was also the FIRST year I was actually able to get the garden to grow!! Chicken Poo!
We want to be as SELF SUFFICIENT as possible, and chickens were our first step after food storage....and FOR food storage. I like what mammachicken888 said! It is all about prepping for the future! Check out the show on NatGeo, "Doomsday Preppers" or the show "Livin' For The Apocalypse" There is a family on both shows that has converted their Arizona backyard pool into a self sustaining unit where the chickens feed the fish, the fish feed the plants, etc....It's CRAZY!
I was diagnosed with Lupus and chickens brought me SO much comfort and joy and I had NEVER expected them to! My step-daughter is special needs and they brought her SO much JOY and gave a bright spot in her daily routine! The chickens started expecting their afternoon treats from her and walk up the 15 deck stairs to wait by the back door for her to get home from school!
