By Forrest Linebarger

Interested in raising your own Easter eggs? The idea is catching on like wildfire. More and more suburban and urban families are bringing chickens under their wing. The primary benefit is the quality of the eggs – many studies have found free-range eggs to be a more healthful alternative to store-bought eggs.

A new study by Mother Earth News found that true free-range eggs contain 1/3 less cholesterol, 1/4 less fat, double the heart-friendly Omega-3s and more vitamins and nutrients. Free-range eggs also pack the full, rich taste lacking in their commercial counterparts.

Why not just buy free-range eggs from the store? The U.S. Department of Agriculture, beholden to agri-business, has cynically allowed the term “free range” to be used in a way that makes the words meaningless. Chickens raised in massive barns where each is allocated real estate the size of a laptop computer and fed a diet of agricultural waste products qualify as free range as long as they are provided, for a few weeks of their short lives, a door to an exterior service area. The exterior service areas are often concrete. Not that it matters – very few chickens figure out how to get outside. This definition means that the vast majority of free-range eggs bought in stores are another low-quality, appallingly treated commodity – despite the cute farm names and pastoral pictures on the cartons.

Consumers are fighting back by growing their own. People often get chickens for the taste and quality of the eggs. In no time, they fall in love with chickens for other reasons. For one thing, chickens make great pets. They are extremely social animals that are great with children. The chores involved in raising chickens are small and child friendly, helping to keep the family in touch with the bucolic values of farm life.

For those into keeping an organic yard, the benefits are wide-ranging. Backyard chickens control pests and weeds without the need to resort to pesticides. Their poop, which is high in nitrogen, is a source of local organic fertilizer second to none. These two functions allow organic gardeners to have a complete recycling loop, where waste from one part of the yard is food for the other.

Backyard eggs reduce global warming by eliminating trucking, a significant source of greenhouse gases, while striking a blow against the agri-business corporations that seem to twist every wholesome food into an Upton Sinclair nightmare.

Chickens can find a space in even the smallest of yards. Two to four birds is usually enough to supply an entire family. For a few birds, I suggest keeping chickens in a confined free-range coop. These are small, lightweight coops that are placed over fresh ground every few days, giving chickens access to bugs, grasses and seeds. The coop provides protection from predators. My favorite confined free-range coops are the home-built “chicken tractors,” but companies such as Omlet make great free-range kits like the “Eglu.”

Although roosters are often illegal in municipalities, chickens are almost always allowed. Chickens come in hundreds of breeds, often evaluated by color, egg production and temperament.

Certain varieties of chickens produce colorful eggs. Eggs from the Ameraucana and Araucana breeds lay eggs in subtle shades of blue and green, making natural Easter eggs. Morans produce rich chocolate-colored eggs.

Instead of mimicking an ancient Easter tradition with plastic eggs and high-fructose corn syrup candy, bring the simple pleasures and natural rhythms of the farm into your backyard.

Forrest Linebarger is CEO of VOX Design Group Inc., which specializes in green building. Linebarger writes and lectures on sustainable living and green design. For more information, e-mail Forrest@VoxDesignGroup.com or call 694-6200, ext. 511.