Many citizens want to learn more ways to become involved with where and how their food is cultivated and sourced. There is also increased emphasis on providing our families with healthier more organic foods. Every year in April, McKinney hosts its annual chicken coop tour where you can get an up-close look at what it would look like to incorporate hens into a small scale urban self sustainable garden. Not only is owning backyard hens a gratifying and rewarding hobby; simply put, the better one treats and feeds the hens the healthier and more productive the hens become. Owning backyard hens is also a great way to teach young children become more involved in their environment and become a responsible care-taker. Owning a small quantity of precious laying hens that a child helped rear from a baby hatchling will quickly teach a very valuable life lesson of "cause and effect." Image the joy your child will experience when it runs to the coop to see if hens have laid any eggs.
