We are responding to Bob Harrison who responded to Glen McGaughlin regarding backyard hens in Cochrane. We have raised chickens for 40 years in the Cochrane area. And we know that roosters do not lay eggs. Chicken is a plural noun and includes roosters, the male of the species, and hens, the females of the species, who actually lay the eggs. It is not necessary for a hen to require the services of a rooster to lay eggs. The rural chicken farmer may have 60 or more chickens; but the urban, as in town or city, owner may have as few as two hens to supply the necessary two eggs per day for breakfast. So a family of four may need four hens. Two hens are easily housed in a cage in a garage; where no one need know that the owner even has hens. The cage is easily cleaned daily, and the happy, friendly hens will repay the owner with fresh eggs. As we have a winter climate, some indoor warmth is required; during the summertime some free-range time in the backyard would be very welcome. No owner is going to leave their hens unprotected in the backyard as a neighbourhood cat could prey on them. Hens do not cluck and fight! They are very friendly. And it is perhaps time for urban folk to get more informed about the species that supplies their eggs. Frank and Anne Bercha
