Receta Talking Poultry - Raising Backyard Birds In Berkeley

Our North Berkeley neighborhood is a haven for chicken fanciers. I've counted at least six coops within a three-block radius of our house!

And we're fortunate enough to live right next to one of them. Our lovely back neighbors, Fran and Chip, have three young hens in their backyard. In addition to entertaining Will, who now says "buck, buck" and heads for the back door whenever we say "chicken", we also receive delicious eggs with brilliant orange yolks from the girls next door sometimes.

After seeing how much Will enjoys watching the girls scratch, peck and flap their wings, I started thinking about maybe getting some chickens of our own. But how to begin?

Fran was kind enough to answer some questions about her…