RAISING CAIN...I MEAN CHICKENS

I love visiting with my daughter and her family in their laid back 1850 farmhouse smack in the middle of Atlanta. Somehow it managed to survive the war between the states and it is a beauty. 

I smiled as I walked up to the front porch. I think my daughter may have inherited some decorating love from me.

My daughter is very busy raising and home schooling her children, updating her home, and looking after a dog, two cats, bees, and nine chickens. It makes me tired just thinking about it. 

I have to admit that I have kind of fallen in love with those chickens. I love that they come right up to the window to greet everyone. It's as if they are saying, we're up, now come gather the eggs that we so nicely laid for you.

Raising chickens in an urban environment has become a big part of the "Urban Agriculture Movement". 

It is a part of a return to more sustainable living practices and to a simpler way of life.

Many urban areas have complained that chickens attract predators and are noisy. (Have those people heard barking dogs and teenagers with their loud music?) 

Although my daughter has lost some chickens to predators, those predators were already in the neighborhood and the chickens go into their coop at night when most of the predators come around. Eventually my daughter and her husband plan to build a daytime run for them.

I can't imaging a better way to grow up than living in an old farmhouse, with a tire swing in a big backyard, and chickens greeting you in the morning, while surrounded with all the amenities of a big city.