Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

The answer to that age-old question doesn't seem to matter so much; the new question is, what came next? And the answer to that is, a whole industry of chicken-related items, like books, coops, feed, heat lamps, bedding, websites, waterers, fencing, dietary supplements and more. There seemingly is no end to how much money, time and, well, genuine affection, people will shell out for their chickens.About a year ago, Kelly Bechtel of Slatington started out intending to purchase just one chicken from a website called

www.mypetchicken.com. But after shopping on the website, she plucked up the courage to buy eight.On a recent Sunday at the Tractor Supply store in Lehighton, Bechtel and her son, Christopher, are taking a peep at the fuzzy yellow chicks moving busily in their pens. Her husband, Robert, who didn't egg-zackly support the chicken venture a year ago, sends her a text, asking her to pick up a few chicks while she's buying chicken food."Oh, he grumbled a little when I asked him to turn a shed into a chicken coop," Bechtel recalls. "But now he agrees that their eggs taste better than store eggs, and with what we sell to friends, the chickens maintain themselves."Bechtel works as a school bus driver. While she's shopping, she greets three students who ride her bus, triplets Madison, Morgan and Mason Weber, the children of Cheryl and Todd Weber, also of Slatington."We have 12 chickens, seven big ones and five little ones," says Madison Weber, who collects the eggs every morning.Her record for one day, so far, is five eggs."The chickens are cute, and their eggs really taste good."Bechtel picks up 10 peeps, and the Webers get six. Lexi Miller, who is a "Chicken Captain" for Tractor Supply yes, there is such a position, and it involves extensive training is a walking encyclopedia of the facts they need to know when they take the peeps home.For instance, as can happen when a bunch of cute girls flock together, there can be instances of bullying amongst the peeps. Who knew? The color of the heat lamp can have an effect on the tendency for one to bully another; use a red lamp, and it's more difficult for the bullying chicken to see if it's drawn blood or not. If the bully sees blood, the continued attacks will be relentless.Miller explains which feeds should be used as starters, and when to switch to a laying mix. She also shows them how to tell which chickens will lay brown eggs, which can be determined by the color of a small flap of flesh on the side of their heads.Another chickenquestionWhy did the chicken cross the road? Well, perhaps it wanted to go to the Chicken Chalet.Tractor Supply and other retailers have been quick to piggyback on the popularity of backyard chickens, launching a line of stylish coops more ornate than children's playhouses. Some have wheels, so they can be moved around in a yard; some have porches and decks; they have ramps leading to different levels and comfy egg-laying roosts. It's not true that some come with flat-screen TVs.In an effort to start from scratch, and cut costs, many chicken afficionados simply retrofit an existing shed. Once housing is purchased or constructed, the cost to maintain a flock of chickens is, well cheep, cheep, cheep.According to

www.backyardchickens.com, a website which includes 140 articles about chickens, a dozen medium-sized chickens will eat four pounds of commercial feed per day, or three chickens would eat one pound a day. A standard food, Purina's Flockraiser, costs about $12-$15 for a 50-pound bag.Growing chicks belly up to the feeder a little more often, devouring 10 pounds of feed in 10 weeks. Chicks won't lay their first egg until they're from 5 to 6 months old, and they need some extra equipment such as a brooder heat lamp ($20-$30) until their feathers are complete. Miscellaneous costs include bedding such as shavings or straw."Once they start laying eggs, they'll lay every day or every other day," Miller said. "And they will lay eggs whether or not they have mated with a rooster; you can eat eggs that were fertilized, and eggs that weren't fertilized won't hatch."Cock-a-doodle do or cock-a-doodle don'tAlthough most neighbors are amenable to a couple of backyard chickens, they may object to the roosters.Contrary to popular belief, roosters don't limit their crowing to daybreak. Most complaints about chickens are related to rooster nuisance noise, because a rooster will crow any time it feels the urge.The amount of crowing is related to the breed, and most crows hit the cackle scale at 49 decibels.Before you buyBefore you set up your backyard chickens, you must check your local zoning laws to see if they are allowed. And there are other steps you can take so that neighbors won't cry foul: Forgo the rooster, keep the bedding clean with frequent changes and share eggs with neighbors.The Weber children are so attached to their chickens that they've named them, such as Chicken Nugget and Chicken Noodle.It's not known if the chickens understand the meaning of the words; if so, they'd be sleeping with one eye open."I'm always going to want to have chickens," Madison Weber said. "They are easy to take care of and fun to watch."