At the back of the yard.

Tammy did the asking, the convincing and the suggesting.
It was she who sent Dad out to buy the six laying chickens. Since the cost altogether would be $60, I offered to pay for half of them. Then we thought we'd sell the eggs to Dad until we made back the $60. I saw them as an investment.
We had already converted the old cubby house into a chicken coup and fenced in a little yard for them.
In paying for half the flock my motives were mainly curiosity and plain greed. It also feels good to own an animal.
Tammy and I have discussed it, and as we've found what interesting little individuals they are, (and chosen favourites), I've insisted we each paid not for half of the flock but half of each chicken.

Initially I thought we would be buying six mindless egg machines and enjoyed the thought of hunting for eggs every day, and delighted that I would not have to fork out monies for chicken food.
Instead, every couple of days either Tammy or I get out the old mincer and grind up our excess loaves of bread, which we get for free. We've also given them old rice & vegetable and fruit scraps.

Far from the dull, consuming creatures I assumed chickens were, these six chickens have turned out characterful, curious and endearingly naughty.
At first I liked them for providing a free egg laying service, but after a month of watching them creep up to the front yard, attempt escape from the chicken pen (they've obviously seen the movie Chicken Run), scrape about for bugs, and fight over egg laying spots, I now appreciate them as lovely pets.
When Tammy and I go down the back on the yard to visit and play with them, at least 3 will race after us, expecting to be hand fed or wanting us to turn over a brick so they can get at the bugs. One chicken which Dad frequently calls 'Ugly', has many less feathers than the others, obviously the lowest on the pecking order. Despite it's strange raptor like looks, this chicken besides being the easiest to distinguish, is the most petlike, as a result she is spoiled with bug treats. So that now there are four chickens which are most sociable and who love to follow us and watch with curiosity our goings on whenever we are down at their part of the yard.
Instead of the egg laying machines I bought them for, I now think of them as feathered garbage disposals with legs which churn out something useful from scraps we would otherwise throw away.
Finding eggs turned out extremely satisfying.
Our egg consumption has gone down, strangely enough, it seems some of us are still wary of eating eggs from our own chickens. The yokes are more bright and yellow than store bought eggs, I like to think this is a good thing.
After all the visual proof, we can no longer deny that the eggs we eat really do come out of a chicken's...

NEWS FLASH: Research recently completed by Tammy suggests that Ugly may not be the lowest on the pecking order, Tammy informs me that besides Ugly there are chickens with even less influence -and feathers.