CHICO — Last summer we inherited four geriatric hens, converted a shed into a chicken coop and were delighted all summer with their busy-quirky presence in the backyard. The hens, way past their egg-laying days, were a gift from Marianne who was anxious to start a new flock and needed a home for the last of her old pets.
Although I had a small flock 20 years ago, I had forgotten everything there is to know about chicken behavior, resulting in some human antics that must have given these chickens a chuckle. Chickens have to be secured at night, because they are vulnerable to dogs and other predators when they are sleeping, but how to get them back in the shed after a day of pecking around the yard?
When the sun went down, each sleepy chicken would roost wherever it was — in the low branches of a tree, under a bush, behind the wheelbarrow. I would grab Carl and Hanna with flashlights and we would run around the yard clucking and searching the bushes for sleeping chickens to be put to bed. On the third night, growing weary of the bedtime ritual, we noticed the chickens lined-up around the shed door at 5 o’clock waiting to go in — 8 o’clock was way past their bed time, and that’s why they fell asleep in the bushes. We came to terms with the fact that these hens knew more about being chickens than we did and for the rest of the summer respectfully let them do their thing.
Chickens have become the mascot of the local food movement and are a natural complement to backyard gardening, raised vegetable beds, composting and other home-based projects that result in fresher more wholesome food than what is available commercially. The underground “Urban Chicken” movement, keeping chickens in the city, is an interesting trend that is sweeping across the United States inspiring grassroots campaigns to alter municipal codes, and creating new spin-off business ventures in coop-building, poultry advice and mobile slaughtering.
According to Ben Block from the Worldwatch Institute, the trend began in London with the invention of the “eglu”, a chicken house marketed by the Omelet company which looks like a late-90s Macintosh computer, costs about $500, and comes with a chicken run and a feeder. Large numbers of city dwellers in Seattle and Portland embraced the Metro Chicken concept. The idea has spread to cities where raising hens was already legal, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago and New York City. Other cities, Anne Arbor, Mich.; Ft. Collins, Colo.; and Madison, Wis. have all voted in the last year to allow residents to raise backyard poultry.
Is there a flock in your future? Caroline Cummins, writing for the Web site Culinate says there are all sorts of reasons for keeping chickens, and third on the list is “fun” since chickens make social goofy pets. Second on the list is typically “your garden” because chickens eat weeds and bugs, including slugs, aerate your lawn, and provide plenty of fresh compostable manure. Eggs are first on the list. They are the freshest possible and “since your birds presumably spend at least part of their lives outdoors eating green stuff, worms, and insects, the eggs are also the healthiest possible.”
An egg from a backyard chicken can be in the pan in minutes, a commercial egg can take two or three days to go from its production facility to a distributor according to Linda Braun, consumer services director for the American Egg Board. It can then sit in a warehouse for as long as a week before being delivered to a store. Home raised chickens can have stronger shells, brighter, richer yolks, and higher levels of nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids than commercial eggs according to Catherine Price, New York Times. A backyard flock of six hens will produce nearly three dozen eggs every week; three hens will lay about two eggs a day.
Chickens are more work than a goldfish and less cuddly than a puppy, but after the initial set-up they are relatively cheap to feed and maintain, (a year’s supply of organic food for two hens costs less than $50), and are entertaining yard companions. DIfferent breeds have different eggs and laying rates — Ameraucanas, for example are good layers and produce beautiful blue-green eggs. Some chicken breeds are more sociable than others, although most chickens, if handled when they are chicks, are quite tame. John Henderson, a reference librarian at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. has a flock of 50 chickens and has developed a comprehensive breed comparison Web site including the Handy-Dandy Chicken Chart.
In the City of Chico, chickens are regulated by Code Enforcement and the Planning Department. In general, most R-1 single family residences can accommodate three to four hens, but no roosters, with a permit as long as they are not offensive to the neighbors in regard to noise, dust or odor. The permit is expensive, so for Chico to be chicken-friendly some work needs to be done. For more detail you can call the City Planning Department at 879-6800
If the idea of backyard chickens is intriguing to you there are several helpful Web sites including Backyard Chickens, and Culinate which will get you started. The City Chicken features “Hen House of the Month,” a gallery of original coops and chicken set-ups, and “Keep Chickens! Tending Small Flocks in Cities, Suburbs, and other Small Spaces,” a fresh, funny book by Barbara Kilarski covers all the details.
Northern Star Mills and Wilbur’s Seed and Feed are good sources of chicken advice and supplies as well as chicks. Baby chicks arrive March 5 at Northern Star Mills, and mid-March at Wilbur’s. Skyway Feed also has poultry supplies and baby Cuckoo Maran and Welsummer chicks which lay dark chocolate brown eggs are available now. Look for pullets — female chicks, and avoid cockerels, male chicks. If you want fresh local eggs without the chickens, check out Chris’ Eggs at the Farmers Market.
Marianne’s Special Market Recipe will be at Chris’ Eggs stall this week.
Nancy Lindahl and Marianne Brenner feature the vast culinary choices that abound in our farmers markets and backyard gardens. E-mail to zookeeny@gmail. com.
