When we purchased our chicks, we purchased them sexed as females.  Sexing chickens can be really tough, so we weren’t too surprised when we ended up with one Roo.  As he aged, he turned into a beautiful golden boy-but as he grew, so did his voice.  It wasn’t too long before his vocal abilities were center stage-and he was singing the song of his people in the early morning light.

Living in a neighborhood, we knew that this wouldn’t work and we would have to relocate our dear friend Nugget.  Luckily, I have a friend who owns a larger farm and a flock of her own, she was willing to take him in.  Today we separated him from our girls, stuck him in the car and brought him to his new family.

Backyard chickens are becoming more and more popular as urban gardening takes off across the country.  It’s important to remember, that if you’re going to be an owner of backyard chickens- you be a responsible one.  One bad egg can ruin it for the whole group.

Noisy chickens and crowing roosters don’t make good neighbors (for some people).  It’s important to remember that, although you may love waking up to that sweet rooster song-there are many people who do not.  I recommend keeping your coop as far away from your neighbors as possible, keep it as clean as possible, and restrict your coop residents to hens.  Sharing the fruits of your labor doesn’t hurt either- who can look at a farm fresh egg and not smile?