As for winter safety, again housing design is critical. Chickens can take a LOT of cold, but must be kept dry and draft free.

I found a tremendous amount of information on http://www.uBuilderPlans.com website. Plus info on Urban gardening. I hope more of you decide to take the backyard hens plunge. I have had them for about 40 years!

Keep being fabulous, lady!

@ Kate – Luckily the predators are less prevalent here in the middle of the city. We get infrequent raccoons but the mesh keeps them out. Dogs are the biggest threat – including our own! We have to be careful about that for sure.

I’ve gone through phases where I’ve eaten the eggs, but it just never sits quite right with me. I don’t hink it’s necessarily unethical . . . but I can’t say I for-sure agree with it either. It’s an issue I’m still working out for myself, and for now I’m perfectly happy to let the ladies recoup their own nutrients. I feed them the eggs. =)

@ Tenise Rae – They are not stinky at all! And actually one time a few years ago, within the first few months putting them outside, Petunia did fly over the fence. It was hysterical actually – something spooked her and she shot up and over the fence before I think she even realized what was happening. She landed on the other side with this look on her face like “WTF< where am I and how did I get here??” Damian does a great impression. It was pretty damn funny. But we’ve never had that problem since and I don’t worry about it!

@ windycityvegan – Yay micro farm sanctuary! I love it – actually it’s a dream of mine. I love all your thoughts on raising chickens and raising children and being a vegan with animals, etc. Thanks so much for sharing!

@ Lily – Thanks!

@ Sarah – Yeah, I do get that sometimes. As a biologist it sort of makes me twitch. Eek, what are they not teaching in school . . . ;-)

@ Eden – Really depends on where you live (as others have said). Here in the middle of the city I don’t worry about raccoons or hawks, but I do worry about a neighborhood dog breaking through the fence. I know people who have lost chickens like that. But, what can you do?

We do have a collection of kitties who drive themselves mad stalking our ladies, who couldn’t care less about the felines who’re smaller than they are!

@ Amanda – Portland doesn’t get *so* so bad in the winter. During “Arctic Blast ’08″ we brought them into the garage for a few weeks. But last winter w didn’t have to bring them in at all. That’s what the Winter Box is for – it’s small enough that we can shut them in there overnight (lock them in) and their body heat will warm the space. On especially cold nights we wrap the whole thing in a blankie for insulation. If we lived in an area that got regular snow I’m sure we’d rig up a heating system. As it is now, it’s not really necessary and I’m terrified of burning the house down! =D

@ erosan – Yes! We feed the eggs back to the girls as well. They LOVE them, beg for them each morning actually. And I figure the nutrients belong to them anyway. ;-)

@ Rebecca – We got our first girls before we went vegan, so at that point is was a mixture of a. I love chickens (was raised with them!) and b. for eggs. But even as a veg*n I’ll keep chickens as long as I can (rescue only of course). My reasons are simply that I adore them, they make wonderful little companions and I think my kid(s) will benefit from growing up with animals, and of course because rescue chickens need good vegan homes!

@ Amanda – Isn’t it interesting how the personalities are so distinct between the breeds? I really want to take on a third girl at some point (we’re allowed three within city limits) and I can’t decide between an Araucana (blue eggs!) and a golden girl like a Red Star (so classic!). Awww, I just love chickens!

I have some friends with chickens in central New York, they heat the coop in the winter.

@Rebecca: We adopted our hens from a local egg farmer who didn’t have room for them and was going to raise them as broiler chickens – long story short, we took as many as we thought we could care for right off the bat, on very short notice. We compost their manure and let them tend to the garden, but mostly we got them because they needed a home and as companions for our daughter. What better way to learn about animal stewardship and about what is sitting on her grandparents’ plate? Also, my husband is not vegan, and we agreed that when the girls started laying, he would get some of the eggs (he hadn’t eaten any eggs in years) and we would give the extras to any nearby relatives. My daughter eats the eggs from time to time, too, and she understands why those are the only eggs we ever bring into the kitchen.

We’ll definitely get more chickens, but we aren’t concerned with their age or whether or not they’re still laying. However, taking the chickens off the hands of a farmer so that he has room to raise more chicks…that’s another issue altogether. I’d love for my daughter to raise some chicks of her own, but unless we get a rooster of our own, that’s not going to happen!