Why chickens?

My name is Danny and I live in the urban center of Los Angeles...an area called Mid-City.   Since many of those who live in LA haven't even heard of "Mid-City", it's near the intersection of La Brea and Olympic.   It's a very diverse neighborhood that is sandwiched between the ritzy Hancock Park area and "the hood," as George and Cristhian and I refer to it as.  My backyard looks out over La Brea and through telephone poles, power lines and billboards.  In fact, an old ad for KIIS-FM is watching over the new chicken run, which is under construction.  I often joke that you can throw a rock in any direction and hit an auto body shop or check cashing place.  

I work full-time in the record business producing music videos for a major record company.  I've been doing this for over 20 years and it takes up most of my time.  I also have a cat and a dog and devote my spare time to fitness, politics & traveling among other things.  So...the most common question I've been getting lately is "what made you decide to raise chickens?!"  This new passion seems to have come out of nowhere to friends and colleagues.

I'm not entirely sure to tell the truth.  I've always felt that I was meant to have grown up on a farm.  In my late twenties, I used to vacation each summer on a farm in Wisconsin and could never get enough of it.  In fact, on one trip I insisted on going to the dairy farm and learning how to milk the cows with my honorary nephew, Greg, who had that as his summer job from school.  I think I was also influenced by the "I Love Lucy" episode when the Ricardos and Mertz's move to California and decide to raise chickens.  Like them, I've also decided to raise the baby chicks in the house and am bringing a large dose of naivete and enthusiasm to this project.