Guardians of the frontier, yeah chickens

I have to say we were kind of forced into having chickens, but it has worked out well.  We have found them to be friendly and easy to take care off.  The chickens have two very important jobs they take very seriously.  Well three but we will never get to third, they are pets you know. One is to leave those wonderful fresh eggs every morning for us to gather up.  Without any complaints they fill our egg cartons up and by the way do you need any eggs, I can drop some off.  The other job is to rid the yards of pests.  Insects, grasshoppers, grub or anything else that moves they take care of.  And I have to tell you they are thorough in their attack.  Scraping all the way down to the dirt and pulling up whatever lies there.  The amount of pests they rid us of is huge, and they do it willingly.  Chickens are the easiest animals to take care of and one of the friendliest.  After they get use to you they follow you around the yard and wait for you to go out the door.  All they require is an uninsulated unheated house and fenced yard.   Once a day they like food and water, sometimes they do not even need it.  They are not big fans of snow so this has been a great winter for them.  When you are looking for chickens they come in all shapes and sizes.  Most places you order them from rate the breeds on several categories, egg laying, meat and pet quality.  Chickens are very social birds so you will want to get a few, six or so.  And unless you are feeding an army, that will be plenty of eggs.  So I recommend you look for breeds with a high pet quality, they will just be friendlier.  They seem to attract less than savory friends, foxes and the like, so a fence is a must.     Between the fence and our dogs they seem so be quite safe and happy. This has been our first year with chickens and we could use some help.  As of yet we do not have names for your seven little ladies so if you have any ideas please post them up.   Oh yeah anyone need eggs?