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POWER TO THE POULTRY:

THE GROWING URBAN CHICKEN MOVEMENT

There is a fast-growing movement sweeping across the world. It’s all about urban chickens, and thousands of people are joining every year.

Keeping chickens in urban backyards is nothing new, and was quite common at one time. The United States government, for example, encouraged it during the Great Depression, when food was harder to come by and a family had to provide for its members. When small grocery stores started popping up on every corner and began carrying ready-to-roast chickens and clean, white eggs, the need for a small backyard flock to feed the family dissipated.

The new urban chicken movement picked up steam in the mid-1990s and went full speed ahead by 2002. Chicken-related websites, blogs, and forums started to take off. Hatcheries started shipping out millions of chicks to backyards everywhere. Local urban chicken groups formed around the world, and today have anywhere from 50 to more than 2,000 members. To keep up with demand, feed-and-seed stores have increased store space reserved for poultry supplies, and a variety of books about urban chickens now flood the market. Andy even hosts a web radio show and podcast, “Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer,” during which he welcomes poultry experts from around the world to share their knowledge.

Who is responsible for the rebirth of the urban chicken movement? In our opinion, it’s the people involved in the green movement.

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A backyard chicken coop in Los Angeles promotes a healthy lifestyle with fresher eggs and greener living.

People who live a greener, more ecofriendly lifestyle eat healthier, for the most part. They tend to buy a large portion of their food locally, and they understand that there’s nothing more local than one’s own backyard. Many already supply their families with homegrown vegetables from backyard gardens, so why not eggs from chickens, too?

The green movement may have initiated growth of the urban backyard movement, but people keep urban chickens for many reasons. In fact, the people joining the backyard chicken movement are quite the melting pot. Through local meetup groups, friendships form between people with absolutely nothing in common but keeping chickens for pets, eggs, composting, fertilizer, insect control, education, or meat. The movement is not based on economic status, age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, political views, or any other label. No stereotype fits the people who keep urban chickens.

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The urban farming movement has grown substantially in recent years.

AN UPHILL BATTLE

The urban chicken movement has faced its share of struggles. Hatcheries, for example, have strained to keep up with the growing interest. Since 2007, many have either been backlogged with orders or unable to fulfill them due to requests for rare breeds such as the French Black Copper Marans that sell out first and quickly. Chicken owners (or those who want to be) also face laws—for example, a coop having to sit a specific distance from nearby occupied dwellings—or challenges such as having to get permission from neighbors to keep backyard poultry. We discuss the laws in detail in chapter 3. In addition, chicken owners struggle to understand biosecurity, disease, and how to reduce their chickens’ risk of becoming ill. (For more about this, read chapter 10.)

The good news is that many smaller hatcheries have popped up to help meet demand while also providing income to entrepreneurs. Lawmakers are starting to change laws in favor of backyard poultry, thanks in part to work by newly formed groups that aim to educate lawmakers and the public. Plus, there are more opportunities from government agriculture departments and in books, videos, and on the radio to learn about diseases, sicknesses, and ways to reduce risk of illness in chickens.

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Hatcheries have been backlogged with orders for would-be chicken owners as interest in the urban poultry market has soared.

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Marans varieties are in high demand due to their striking colors. The French Maran Hens are increasingly more popular because of their darker, chocolate-colored eggs.

ADVANTAGES OF OWNING CHICKENS

The movement is continuing to grow. Is it a fad? We don’t think so. As more people educate themselves about what foods they are eating, and what they are actually putting into their bodies, they are starting to look for options outside the supermarkets. Chickens can benefit suburban and rural landowners in so many ways.

FRESH EGGS

One of the top reasons for keeping backyard chickens is the endless supply of fresh, tasty eggs. More people today want to know where their food comes from and having backyard chickens allows them that luxury. As a chicken owner, you determine what goes into your chickens, which also gives you a pretty clear picture of what comes out.

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A family can have a constant supply of fresh eggs with just a few chickens.

Grocery stores now stock a variety of eggs with different labels, each brand trying to convince you it is the best to buy. When we first noticed these, images popped into our heads about what those words meant. “Free range,” for example, must mean that the chickens are out in a pasture scratching for bugs, eating plants and supplement feed, and living a life unconfined. “Organic” must mean a similar situation but with feed sourced from a certified organic product.

As with any farm, there are good and bad managers; the best you can do is ensure that the food you buy came from someone you have personally met and whose farm you have visited.

In 2007, Mother Earth News compared eggs sold at the supermarket, many of which come from commercial farms, with those from various breeds of chickens raised on various types of pasture. According to this study, hens in the latter group laid more nutritionally sound eggs than those sold commercially. In most situations, chickens raised in the backyard setting live plush lives. Owners do their best to protect their flock and at the same time, provide opportunities for chickens to behave as they naturally would in the wild. For example, most backyard chickens have ample room to move freely, take dust baths, scratch for seeds and bugs, and so on. For this reason, while we don’t have a study to prove it yet, we believe most backyard poultry hens lay eggs that are healthier than store-bought eggs laid by chickens raised in cages.

GREAT WASTE DISPOSERS

Did you know that chickens can eat much of your kitchen leftovers? In fact, they can drastically reduce the amount of garbage you set out on the curb each week if your household frequently has leftovers that would otherwise spoil. While some foods are better than others for these birds, chickens can eat many things including garden waste. Just make sure to remove uneaten leftovers from the pen so mold, decay, and bacteria do not make the birds sick, or attract unwanted rodents or predators. Food scraps and treats should be given sparingly and be no more than 10 percent of their daily intake.

It is certainly fun to interact with your chickens in this way. However, if you care about generating a steady supply of eggs, limit the amount of food scraps and other treats in their diet. Chickens that fill up on table scraps may not get the appropriate nutrients they need to produce eggs because they are too full to eat the balanced diet. In addition, chickens may learn to expect these treats—and will let you know through unhappy chattering when they don’t get them. They may even hold off eating their balanced feed to have plenty of room for treats when you do offer them. Chickens are smart. Don’t discount their willingness to hold out for the junk food if they know you provide it daily.

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Your garden and your chicks will have a harmonious relationship, and nothing will go to waste.

GREAT FERTILIZER

It’s plain and simple: Chicken poop makes great fertilizer. While chicken waste can be considered hot, which simply means high in nitrogen, it can help many garden plants thrive. Don’t place it directly on plants, but rather mix chicken poop into your compost to create healthy soil. There are several ways to do this.

Several months before you want to plant a garden area, house chickens there to eat insects, weed seedlings, and fertilize the garden. Or collect the waste and bedding material from the run, coop, and nest box, and place it in a compost bin or pile where it can age and the materials can decompose to create nutrient-rich soil. A third option is to create a rotation plan during which you move the chickens between your garden and chicken run. Using this method, the chickens fertilize one area of your yard for an entire year. Then, when the chickens move to a new yard location, mix the soil in the first location by tilling or turning it over by hand.

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Chickens are happy to partake of your kitchen scraps.

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Chicken manure provides rich, organic nourishment for fruits, flowers, and vegetables. But keep in mind that your chickens will destroy tender seedlings and bite mature fruits and vegetables if they have garden access.

PEST CONTROL

Chickens love to walk about the yard scratching around and foraging for bugs. They will eat all kinds of things, including but not limited to ants, spiders, ticks, fleas, slugs, stinkbugs, beetles, roaches, and even small snakes and mice. That said, insects can cause some issues with your flock. One type of roach can infect your chickens with eyeworm, many insects can contribute to your chickens having internal parasites, and mice can increase the chance of your chickens getting salmonella. Mice may carry a host of diseases that could affect your family and your flock. While you can’t watch your chickens 24/7, encouraging them to eat mice is irresponsible and just asking for trouble. Chickens can work in your garden before, during, and after you plant to keep away pests. They will, however, make a quick meal of your plants, fruits, and vegetables without supervision and a designated fenced-in area.

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A boy holds a black rooster while the turkey his brother is holding flies out of his arms. Their family raises turkeys, show bantams, and chickens to enter in 4-H competitions.

EDUCATION

Many children today have no idea about the origins of the food they eat. They think broccoli comes from the grocery store and the grocery store gets it from a truck. They also think eggs come from Styrofoam cartons and are only white, not brown, or even blue or green. This problem is common with children raised in urban and suburban areas, but the problem also exists in rural areas with children raised off farms. In fact, children raised in rural areas don’t necessarily have any more exposure to food production on a farm than urban and suburban kids.

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By observing chickens, children can be educated about the origin of their foods from an early age.

Not only is the process through which a chicken lays an egg educational, but chickens are easy enough to care for that young children (who are old enough) can take on that responsibility. We’ve found that children take on more responsibility and stay focused longer when caring for a chicken than for a dog, cat, or other more common household pet. Why? Chickens lay eggs, a reward most pets don’t provide. Depending on the flock, these can be a beautiful mix of colors, shapes, and sizes, providing a unique daily surprise for the whole family. In addition, children can participate in chicken clubs, which often encourage and teach children how to enter chickens in local fairs and poultry shows—places with points to be earned, awards to be received, life skills to be learned, and a fun experience to be had for the whole family.

ENTERTAINMENT

Believe it or not, chickens are very entertaining—maybe even therapeutic. Chickens really do have individual personalities. Some are friendly and come sit on your lap while you pet them. Others love to bask in the sun while they saturate their bodies with dirt. Some others scratch the dirt until they find a prize worm or bug and then run around the yard fending off the rest of the flock—who all want to steal the tasty morsel.

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