Currently, my tribe of hens consists of 27 adolescent chickens doing what teenagers do best: pushing boundaries and playing their favorite childhood games like "chicken" or chase. It is kind of hard to believe that my love for chickens stemmed from raising four Rhode Island Red hens for the local community garden project that I was formerly the director of.
I was, for a brief moment, an urban chicken farmer. In most cities, small flocks of all hens are legal. Seattle actually encourages it. No city likes a rooster and they are usually illegal. Poor little guys are shunned to a rural existence all because their ritual of worshipping the rise of the sun with a song. We should all be so driven to express our joy of another day upon us.
Urban chickens are on my mind, because rumor has it more people are starting gardens this year in 30 the last years. What a beautiful act of community and sustainability in the face of skyrocketing food prices! My experience has shown chickens are fantastic gardeners, great fertilizers, and of course fresh eggs are a good source for quick and easy protein.
Thanks to companies like Backyard Farming, chickens can be a part of your urban homestead. Backyard Farmer specializes in "stylish coops for suburban chicks" by Forsham. These readymade coops come in three different sizes depending upon how many chickens you have (from four to 12). Building the coop is usually the most challenging part of creating a chicken's home - Backyard Farming does the hammering for you.
Hens will produce approximately an egg a day (if tended to correctly) for about two to three years. They start to lay eggs between three and five months old. Overall, they require a lot less attention than a dog and a tad bit more than a cat. The friendly girls can be trained to be petted and picked up (the smaller amount of chickens the less likely to become part of their flock mentality... like a group of crazy kids in a mosh-pit on some days). The chickens will run to greet their loving caretaker. Your girls will happily clean up left over milk for protein (raw is best) and any vegetables scraps for added nutrients. They are great at fertilizing your garden during off growing season and the clean up from the coop is a welcome addition to any compost pile.
Chickens can be found at your local farm goods store or order them online from a hatchery. Organic Living has a great three part article on urban chickens to find out if egg producing is your next gift to our earth. Raising your own chickens for eggs saves the fuel it takes to get your eggs to the store, the energy to make the egg cartons, and the in-store refrigeration - just to name a few eco-friendly benefits to having a flock of feathered friends.
Source: BecauseAction.com
