Mr. Smith breaks into urban agribusiness (and he may have to go to Washington).

[festive1]

I've been trying to talk my husband into letting me set up a chicken coop in our backyard... does that count?

Sure does. Why do you want chickens in your backyard? What kind of coop..there are some really sweet fetish-coops out there.

Because we eat so many damn eggs! And I prefer the "free range," "organic" eggs, they taste better, but are significantly more expensive. I put those terms in quotes because "free range" only means the birds have access to the outside, not that they actually get to roam free. "Organic" eggs just means they are fed a suitable, bird-friendly diet, not ground up dead chickens. I think it would ultimately prove economical to invest in the coop and chickens.
My sister-in-law had a coop for awhile, but foxes ate all of her hens She says it wasn't very much work to get a good yield of eggs, and not too smelly or noisy either. From my understanding, you give them hay, chicken feed, and water, muck out the coop once a week and you get eggs, glorious eggs (gathered daily of course)! Do you know anything about how much cold they can withstand? My husband thinks the neighbors wouldn't like it, but I think they'd be cool if we told them about it beforehand and gave them dibs on our extra eggs.
Any proof you have supporting this cause and getting me my chicken coop would be greatly appreciated! I know they are working on allowing suburban chicken coops in my county, but not entirely sure if it's 100% legal yet... But if the neighbors and hubby agree, I'd go ahead with it anyway.