Confession: I want chickens.

Americans are taking back their food supply. People everywhere are gardening and enjoying the fruits of their own labors. About six months ago I heard a story in NPR about people in city apartments who raise chickens on building roofs in coops only about 150 sq ft. That got me thinking.

I'm also lucky enough to work in a district where I have some kids who are inner-city born and bred and teach me all sorts of stuff about city living. However, we also have kids who have 4H projects involving their own chickens and cows. I'm getting about a dozen eggs a week from one student who just can't get rid of the things fast enough. These farm eggs are DELICIOUS, I'm telling you, and the baked goods - oh, swoon. The baked goods. You haven't yet lived until you've tried fresh eggs.

Chris and I discussed. Read: I whined and begged and Chris said no. But then about two weeks ago one of our neighbors (he looks JUST like Mike Holmes and seems to spend all his time doing incredible construction projects to his house...he's awesome) was bantying about his backyard. Penny and I watched on our twice-daily walks past his house as - lo and behold - there arose a chicken coop! His girls are beautiful and already producing eggs. Already!

Our lawn is incredible. We're talking about some sort of outdoor patio/living space back there. Could it be that I might be able to talk Chris into sharing it with some feathered friends?

Today was the first day of Dog School (more on that later) at our local ASPCA. Chris begged out of coming seeing as he's still studying for The Big Test on June 4th. I told him that his punishment for missing this important moment in Penny's life would be that I was going to peruse the dogs for adoption on my way out of Dog School. Never made it that far. I found those chickens and was mesmerised.

If I can adopt a dog, I can adopt chickens, right? I'm thinking this though and doing some internet research and found out that yes, Americans are raising their own chickens. Just some are doing it more crazily than others.

There's a great website here on getting started. What I like about this website is that it treats chickens as livestock, not as family members. You can also check out this website for more info on the Urban Chicken movement, whose blog I have now become obsessed with. They make it all look so easy.

Then, there are the crazy (in my opinion) "my chicken is my pet" people. I eat a lot of chicken so I'm not sure I could ever get to this point. Sure, I may be picking out names for my unhatched chickens already (Petunia!), but they will not be living in my house. This website helps you maintain this wild lifestyle, including this helpful gadget for keeping things tidy. (Horrified yet? THERE ARE MULTIPLE OPTIONS AND STYLES. That is the most horrifying part.)

There was also this website offering a 'husband free' option for starting your own flock...it's called the Omlet and it basically looks like a playpen for chickens. Something tells me it will not hold up to our robust New England winters.

Any thoughts? Should we expand our empire and start spreading our wings? Or have I gone off the roost?