In my previous series a few months ago regarding chicken raising, I purposefully avoided the topic of raising chickens for their meat. There are a few reasons for this, but I thought I would share an experience from another blogger regarding her problems with what the industry calls "meat birds". I raised a few of these myself a couple years ago, and I find this story hauntingly close to my own.

Laurie Kruczek over at Life Force Vibrations gives us a glimpse into her own misadventures with the Cornish Cross chickens, which are birds that are genetically bred to do nothing but get fat as quickly as possible. Most chickens lead active, happy lives when they're allowed to free-range in a yard. They roll around in dust baths, they peck for insects and weeds, and they generally enjoy each other's company. Cornish Cross chickens are not like this at all, and according to Laurie's incredible story, she has learned that buying these chickens is not something she wants to support ever again.

After the recent food scare with industrially-grown tomatoes, there is no better time than now to grow your own tomato plants in your backyard. Even for this time of the year, it's still not too late. You can head on over to your favorite local nursery or farmer's market and find plenty of tomato plants all ready to go.

Tomatoes are one of the easiest plants to grow, if you follow a few easy steps.

• Choose indeterminate plants. These are the kind that will continue to produce until the first frost. A bit of research on the particular species that are indeterminate will make a world of difference.
• Plant deep! You can bury up to half the plant in the soil when you first plant your garden. This might seem like overkill on such a small plant, but trust me, you'll want that added strength once the plants grow to 4-5 feet tall.
• Use only organic mulch. Make sure the roots are kept cool and are covered with something like newspaper to keep the moisture in. Be creative! I have a Pin Oak tree in my back yard and the tiny fallen leaves make a perfect mulch.
• Fertilize with organic fertilizer made specifically for tomatoes. An all-purpose fertilizer may help the leaves flourish, but not the fruit.
• Water, water, water! Make sure to keep consistent with the watering, or else those alternations of dry and damp will lead to mushy black spots on the underside of the fruit.
• Pick those tomatoes. The best thing you can do for any vegetable plant is give it lots of attention. With tomato plants, that means pick the fruit regularly to promote the growth of new fruit.

With any luck, you'll have some wonderful red tomatoes to share with the family. Heck, even if you pick them before they're ripe, fried green tomatoes are delicious!

By this time of the year, depending on where you live, you should already have your backyard garden well-established. You may even have some strawberries harvested already, as I do. But it's just never too late to learn about successful and efficient garden-planning techniques. One of the best things you can do in the name of planting efficiency is use companion planting to naturally aid your vegetables.

Companion planting involves the use of plants that work well together. The purpose can range from soil allocation and usage to pest deterrents to weed control. But did you know that plants can also have natural enemies as well? For example, tomatoes do well with mostly any plant as a companion, yet their deep root system tends to crowd plants such as potatoes which grow underground.

This marks the final installment of The Suburban Farmer's chicken series, but don't fret! The Suburban Farmer will be back with many more topics to come in the near future.

So for this last piece, I'm going to talk a bit about what other animals can get along with chickens, typically. Now remember, as with any animal, they all have their own personalities and traits. Cats and dogs are said to traditionally not get along, yet many pet owners know this isn't the case.

The most obvious companion choice for chickens is other chickens. Even though they may peck at each other sometimes, they're a social animal who thrives in numbers. Also, there's rabbits. Technically, rabbits are considered poultry, so it only makes sense. Rabbits are sometimes messy eaters, getting their feed all over the ground, and the chickens are more-than-happy to come along and finish up the crumbs!

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Something you may not think of when planning your new suburban chicken farm is what to do with all those eggs! With me, it was a problem I postponed contemplating because I just wanted to raise some chickens, but it can become a serious problem unless you have a plan.

Since all eggs (free-range or cage-raised) have the same amount of cholesterol (around 70% of your daily recommended allowance for each egg!), it's safe to say you won't be eating dozens of eggs every day. But luckily, the demand for free-range organic naturally-raised eggs is growing every day.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

The behavior of chickens is a fascinating and peculiar thing. They're unlike dogs or cats or your "normal" household pet, but they also share many of the same behaviors of these animals. Chickens are trainable to a certain extent, and of course their personalities are primarily dictated by their upbringing and surroundings.

I covered the most common behavioral "issue" with hens in yesterday's article about brooding, so in this article I will cover a few more common behaviors you may discover with your chickens.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

While it may be fun to hunt Easter Eggs once a year, doing it several times a day can be daunting. As with any animal, you can train your chicken to perform a certain behavior just the way you'd like. In this case though, it's not fetching your slippers or going in a litter box, it's laying their eggs in their nests.

Let's first get one thing straight. Hens don't need roosters to create and lay eggs. Many people don't realize this, but there's a simple distinction. If you want fertilized eggs and to continue the generations of backyard chickens, the roosters will be needed, but to just simply lay unfertilized eggs, a rooster is not needed. In fact, according to most suburban or city codes, roosters are actually illegal to own because of the constant noise they make. No, they don't just crow at dawn.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Building a coop house for your chickens can be as easy, difficult, cheap or expensive as you want it to be. They basically only require shelter from drafts, protection from predators, somewhere to perch for sleeping and somewhere to lay their eggs. They don't care what color it is, or if it has a shingle roof or a tin one, but these amenities are completely up to you.

When I built my coop, I researched for weeks on the perfect design. I wanted it to be something that was easy to build, large enough for 15-25 full-sized chickens, and cost effective. I settled on a design that matched most of these criteria, but after three years with it, I'm ready to rebuild, based on the lessons I've learned.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Providing nourishment for your new baby chicks is an extremely important protocol to follow. The basics of life apply here, as with any living thing: food and water. But it's not as simple as laying the two down in front of the chickens and wishing them good luck.

Because of the yolk sack they consumed in the egg, day-old baby chicks will not need food for around 2-3 days after hatching. This gives you a tiny window if there are shipping problems, but it's best to have the food ready, nonetheless. Water, on the other hand is vital as soon as possible. You can buy a small waterer with a removable jar from any feed store or most small hardware stores. The Ace Hardware near me sells these waterers, feeders and even chicken feed, but that may not be the case for everyone.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Once your new baby chicks arrive, either by mail or purchased from a local hatchery, it is very important to get them to a proper heat source as quickly as possible. They can survive for a day or two huddled together within their own body heat in a small box, but since they have no feathers yet, a true source of heat is crucial very soon.

This small container and source of heat is often called a brooder, which replicates the warmth naturally given by the mother. A brooder can be fashioned quite easily from a medium-to-large-sized box that is tall enough to prevent any drafts at all. You then clamp a heat lamp on one side of box, pointed directly down towards the bottom of the box. This heat lamp should be a 250-watt lamp (the red kind) placed about 18-24 inches above the ground. Place a small thermometer in the heat lamp's hottest spot to keep an eye on the temperature constantly, this is very important. Make sure you get a thermometer than can't be knocked over or obscured by droppings. I speak from experience.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

Purchasing chickens can be done in a few different ways. You can buy locally from a farmer's market or possibly even in your local newspaper. But a modern, easy way to get good quality birds is actually through the mail! Yep, that's right, you can mail-order chickens. The most popular and most reliable place for this is McMurray Hatchery. It's where I ordered my own and I've spoken to many chicken farmers who will only deal with McMurray. As an added bonus, McMurray includes one rare bird in every order, so you could end up with your usual egg-layers and one exotic bird to amaze your friends and wow your neighbors!

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

So you've discovered you can legally own chickens on your suburban property, and you're ready to get started. First you must decide the purpose of your chicken hobby. Do you want them for their eggs, their meat, their companionship or their show qualities? It is very possible to keep chickens as pets, as they are intelligent animals who respond well to human interaction. It is also possible to have multi-purpose chickens such as egg-layers and companions, or egg-layers and meat birds, but whatever you do, don't ever name the ones you set aside for their meat! There should be a definite distinction between the two types.

One of my biggest interests, and one of the biggest topics I bring to the table at GreenDaily is a way to live a more sustainable life through raising your own food free of hormones and chemicals. This includes vegetables and animals, but mainly chickens. This series is an on-going introduction to the wonderful world of raising chickens in a non-rural environment.

To preface this series, I want to make sure that any potential suburban chicken farmers research their current city codes as they relate to what is considered farm animals on their property. Many cities have strict laws against any sort of poultry on land zoned as residential, and others have certain stipulations such as no roosters, yet hens are allowed. Whichever the case where you live, always abide by these laws and be aware of their existence.

When most people discover that I raise chickens in my backyard, there are many misconceptions that are expressed almost immediately: "Do you live on a farm?" and "Do you kill the chickens?". Neither of these questions are true in my case, but they are certainly a reality in most cases where chickens are raised. I will, however, be approaching this subject from the unique perspective of someone who lives on less than a quarter of an acre of land and does not use the chickens for their meat.

So what else is there?