They want to know where it came from. They want to be sure it is free of chemicals, pesticides or hormones involved in production. They want to decrease the amount of fossil fuel burned to get it to the table.

For the Wells family, and others like it, these concerns are eased by keeping chickens even in suburban and urban neighborhoods that are miles from the nearest barnyard.

There are others, of course, who just want some nice scrambled eggs for breakfast, and nearly everyone agrees that fresh eggs taste better.

"Much better," Wells said. "The thought of buying a store bought egg? I can't go back."

Gary Paul Nabhan is a research social scientist at the University of Arizona's Southwest Center who studies the region's natural and human cultures.

He says people raise chickens to feel more connected to the food they eat and serve to their families.

"This is an issue of people wanting to know where their food comes from," Nabhan said. Department of Agriculture statistics from 2007 that show farmers now make up less than 1 percent of the country's population.

"People feel very disconnected from their food," he said. "You can see it at any farmers market. Some people just want to talk to the farmers."
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Urban folks raise chicks and feed them. They gather eggs in the morning, with no doubt about where the food comes from.

"That is very emotionally satisfying for people," Nabhan said.

Some people worry about backyard chickens, that they're noisy, smelly or somehow unsafe. Most Valley communities have regulations involving fowl, all slightly different.

In Phoenix, for example, poultry is permitted if a homeowner gets written permission from neighbors who live within 80 feet of a coop.

Rules for roosters are far stricter. Roosters, of course, can be loud early in the morning, but they are not needed for egg production. Roosters are necessary only to fertilize eggs.

Chicken raisers say the coops don't smell too bad, as long as they're regularly cleaned.

"We keep wood shavings on the bottom of their coop," Wells said. "You just have to sweep it out and put it in the compost."

It is hard to know exactly how many people are raising urban chickens. The animals generally aren't licensed or counted.

Rachel Bess has a good sense that the numbers are increasing. Bess, 29, has 10 hens in her backyard. She teaches a class called "Raising Chickens in Your Backyard" through the Phoenix Permaculture Guild.

"I thought I would teach a class or two. Maybe 20 students in each class," Bess said. "For the last year and a half, we've been teaching one of two classes a month, and it's at least 30 people per class."

Classes also are taught at Phoenix's Baker Nursery and other locations.

Both give advice about how to begin to raise chickens, what to feed them, how to build a coop.

They offer lively and often funny forums for chicken people:

"How can I tell which ones are hens and which are roosters?"

"I let them roam free, and today one of them chased me into the house. I am afraid to go into my backyard. Have you ever heard of this?"

For Wells, director of development and communications at the Children's Museum of Phoenix, the decision to raise chickens came after a number of trips to a downtown farmers market.