I have really been enjoying my chickens.  I had no idea they'd be so easy to care for.  Many people are starting to keep chickens even in suburb areas.  As long as the neighbors don't complain, there isn't a problem.  A few chickens (5 or so) and no rooster can be really quiet and provide your family with fresh eggs.

My coop (pictured two entries ago) comfortably houses my 14 birds and is 5' x 7'.  I get anywhere from five to nine eggs everyday from them.  They eat about four cups of chicken feed a day.  That sounds like a lot but one 50 lb. bag of feed costs $7.50 and lasts me about a month.  They also get all the table scraps except potato skins which chickens can't digest.  They come to me everytime they see me hoping for a treat.

Cleaning the coop is a snap.  It takes all of twenty minutes for a routine cleaning.  Once a year it's recommended to disinfect the coop, but I haven't had to do that yet.  I put a tarp down in front of the door and use a pitchfork to toss out the old straw.  Then it goes to the compost pile.  I put a whole bale of straw ($4.50) in there at a time and I'm guessing I'll have to clean the coop like this about once every three months.  I also "stir" the straw twice a week with a garden hoe to mix the manure with the straw.  That helps it dry out and not smell.  My coop smells like sweet hay.  The small amount of flies that are attracted by the coop get hunted by the chickens.  That's really amusing to watch!