Dude chickens are like one step up from goldfish in simplicity and cost. A dog is more expensive than chickens if you factor in the eggs that you personally eat (two dozen a week in my house). You're spot on about the right romanticizing agrarian pseudomodern primitivism, but we do that for everything because we actually appreciate the non materialistic aspects of life. I'm telling you, if you're in a temperate zone they'll eat bugs and scraps and barely need feed. Plus they're fun and teach responsibility and all the other 4H style things.