Demi, too bad you don't know of a farm nearby that has free-range chickens, because, those chickens probably are able to go all over the yard - ours do - and so do our friends' chickens. Also, if the eggs are not fertile - (our neighbours would KILL us if we got a crowing rooster,!) you don't have to worry about the males being killed. A non-fertile egg is not alive. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />