Telling the Neighbors

The idea for the chickens was a while in the making. We didn’t rush in to it. Well, at least no more than we rush into anything (having five kids doesn’t just happen on its own, you know). As we built, then planted our large gardens, the topic of the chickens kept coming up. I caught Big Chicken adding up how much we were spending on our cage-free, organic, super-omega eggs. I found myself googling chicken coops on the Blackberry while idling in the carpool line. After a few months of mulling it over, we decided it was a feasible idea. So, one evening while our kids ransacked the neighbor’s stash of sidewalk chalk, I mentioned the chickens. My neighbor looked dubious. I hurried to add that we weren’t getting a rooster, just hens, and that we weren’t eating them, just the eggs. She nodded skeptically and I tried to sweeten the pot by throwing in the offer of some free eggs. That seemed to help. I understood her hesitation. We’re just normal people living in a normal suburban/urban neighborhood. While we’re fortunate to have a larger-than-usual lot and backyard, and live on a dead end street, we’re still very much city dwellers.  She asked me about odor (we’re only planning on 6, should be minimal), disease (healthy chickens in hygienic conditions don’t pass along illnesses) and whether we’d eat them (no! we don’t eat our friends... ). In the end, I think she just added the chickens to the list of things that make us not quite normal neighbors anyway (weird stuff is always going on over here-- whether it be the escaped child wearing nothing but socks and a cape or the huge RV that’s taken up permanent residence in the driveway). So, while we may not have the neighbors enthusiastic support, there is certainly a case to be made for implied consent.  http://www.urbanchickenproject.com/Blog/Entries/2008/11/2_why.html