dyingwaterbuffalo: I need your help!

Ok., so here's my post on chickens and before I start, I want ask for your help!! Hear me out before you say no and feel free to laugh but we want to get CHICKENS!!! It's illegal to have them in Fairfax County unless you have two acres (and then you're allowed 64!!) (We have 1 acre) Anyway, we have a major tick problem in our yard (they have embedded their nasty selves in even the baby!!) so we've spoken with an expert because we don't want insecticides sprayed on our property and he suggested chickens. After my initial reaction of no WAY no HOW, (that's not the way I actually speak but it's way more typable thatn what I rpobably said .) I did some research (they will get rid of all of our ticks and mosquitoes and are actually great friendly pets!!) and spoke to some friends with them and am convinced that we need our new pet chickens!! (these are hens we want, not roosters so no noise issues for neighbors) .. So if you're still reading... PLEASE help!! It's up for review in Fairfax County TONIGHT so the law could be changed with your help!! I had NO IDEA how good for you pet chickens were until I did the research... They're not at all what you might think. We are SO BEHIND other areas!! So please, laugh and then sign this PETITION FO CHICKENS!!!

PETITION HERE

As I was googling different chicken coops, I came across some really special ones & wanted to share with you...

Loooove this one:

{Gorgeous chicken coop built by Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff - whose blog I just discovered today. She seems like so much fun & definitely brilliant. I want to be friends!!}

I dream of one day calling my "Girls!!!" to come running to me!! hahaha

This Youtube video is hysterical.

To be honest, once the County makes a decision and rules one way or the other, we'll make our chicken decision then. But either way, I believe in the right to be able to own these pets. (Fresh eggs?!! mm) Dave is even more into getting the chickens than I am. (He did the research on the insecticides and wasn't happy with what he found. Definitely carcinogens. not good. And with all of the deer we have, Lyme Disease is a serious concern.) My biggest worry with the hens would be the "mess" ;)

The image above & the next couple of images are from Southern Living. Sooo beautiful...

I love all of the gravel paths...

I love the modern look of this one...

{Modern chicken coop from Stephmodo-- omgosh she's amazing!!! The coop belongs to her sister}

I'm not sure what type of coop we'd end up with. We were only thinking of getting around 4 "sisters" for our dog, Ashby, so we would probably have a fairly small coop. I visited my friend Brooke Giannetti and loved her cute little white hens..

{ Brooke's (of Velvet & LInen) coop at their previous house... Dying to see what their new coop will look like!!}

Brooke stressed the importance of getting a friendly breed of chicken. Safety with my kids is first. (Doesn't make sense to bring in crazy chickens that could hurt them if the whole point was protecting them from harmful ticks. We've been doing a little breed research but got stopped when we found out that our lots size was too small for hens.)

I love this gorgeous coop built by Heather Bullard:

She sells the plans to build this coop online. I love the little fenced in area.. So pretty & we might have to do something like that to protect our garden from the chickies...

And finally, my friend Seleta recently adopted a little chicken named Lucky: