Well, I had been! I had become obsessed with the idea of having some chickens, raising our own eggs, gathering the eggs and caring for chickens with the kids.
It was almost all I could talk about and everyone basically looked at me like I had gone off the deep end.
I had checked into having a few backyard chickens. Alot of cities had recently passed laws allowing people to have anywhere from 3 to 5 chickens in their yards as long as you didn't have a rooster and your chickens didn't cause any disturbances or smell.
Unfortunately, the city could change all the rules they wanted to, subdivisions have their own rules called "the CC&R's" (may they all burn in hell). And of course, the one we lived in said NO chickens.
When we got back from Montana, the first critters I was looking for were some chickens. The Ranch has a small chicken house with a small run that my Mom used to house her doves for many years. The original old chicken house had been turned into a storage building and was not in good shape.
There were many places to get chickens, you could order them online at Murray McMurray and other hatcheries, buy them down below at some of the country type stores like D&B, Zam Zows and Dunlap. And of course, my favorite, this time of year any number of people were offering chicks for sale on craigslist.
Some time ago (as part of my obsession) I had already compiled a list of chicken breeds I wanted to have, each selected for its hardiness, egg-laying ability and egg color (I loved the idea of the kids gathering the eggs and coming in with a basket full of multi-colored eggs).
But, if we got baby chicks, it would be several months before we would be reaping any benefits (i.e. eggs) from them. So I had been watching out for some adult chickens to get us started with the plan to order my preferred breeds at a later date when we had updated the chicken coop and built paddocks for them (for more information on raising chickens in paddocks check this article Raising Chickens 2.0: no more coop and run! which I found quite interesting and educational).
Most egg-laying age chickens were going for about $15 a head, but I was fortunate enough to find a lady in the valley selling 10 of her 1-2 year old hens for $7 each!
I made the call and the very next day we were on our way to pick up our new chickens!
Buff Orpington, Ameraucana, Production Red, Light Brahma, Welsummer.