Big Surge in Backyard Chicken Raising Reflects Food Security Trend in U.S.

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13...

ONE day Judith Haller was watching television and saw that Martha Stewart had chickens. “I was very envious that she had her own chicken manure,” she recalls. So last year, she got a couple of chickens on behalf of her vegetable garden. They proved to be industrious providers and pleasant companions. Now there are 13 hens pecking around the yard. And Ms Haller has become an advocate for a hot movement: backyard chickens. In April, as part of Austin’s first Funky Chicken Coop Tour, she hosted 637 visitors.

Chickens are having a moment. For Americans who are concerned about eating locally or organically, hens can help. They produce fresh, free-range eggs. They eat table scraps, and their waste goes in the compost pile. Finances are a factor for some families. Mimi Bernhardt says that she and her partner became more reflective about sustainability when the economy worsened. Now they are growing melons, tomatoes, onions and aubergines, and they raise ducks as well as chickens. Their grocery bill has plummeted. There is also a pet aspect. Hens are soft and fluffy, if not very affectionate. As Ms Haller puts it, they make cats seem like dogs.

It is impossible to know exactly how many Americans have joined this trend. The Department of Agriculture does not track hobbyists. Owners can register via the National Animal Identification System, but it is strictly voluntary. This is a sore point with some health experts, who say that America needs a better way to keep track of its animals.

In any case, signs point to a bird surge. Hatcheries that deliver chicks by mail have reported backlogs. Rob Ludlow, the owner of BackyardChickens.com, says that his forum has 35,000 members and about 100 more joining each day. Backyard poultry groups meet in at least two dozen cities, from Seattle in Washington to Tallahassee in Florida. Over the past few years many cities have, in response to public pressure, relaxed ordinances against the birds.

Andy Schneider, a radio host known as the Chicken Whisperer, says he gets calls every day from people who are interested in challenging their city council on this score. Web sites like Craigslist, Facebook and Twitter help them organise. “If you have 50 people wearing buttons saying ‘I love chickens’ on the steps of the courthouse, it does make a statement,” he says.

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Thomas K wrote:
June 25, 2009 5:00

It's great to see the Economist weigh in on the subject of urban chickens.

We've been keeping a couple Barred Plymouth Rock hens in our backyard for the last two years (blogging our experience at http://urbanchickens.net), and I'd highly recommend the experience to anyone. It's a great learning experience for our kids to have two chickens to show them where food comes from.

In reply to Joshua's concern about avian flu, the chances of cross-species avian flu transmission in a backyard coop are very, very slim. Given a backyard coop's exposure to sunlight and the typically small number of organisms (chickens) in which a virus could mutate from wild bird to captive chicken, the backyard chickens are actually helpful in *preventing* the spread of avian flu. At least this is true here in North America where birds are kept outside, unlike Asian countries where the H5N1 virus originated where chickens and ducks are kept inside living quarters.

And Paul's concern about the costs? A 50 pound bag of feed costs $15 and will feed two chickens for six weeks, during which you'll get a dozen eggs per week. The manure makes for great compost which you can turn around and put on your garden to grow your own vegetables and you can feed the scraps back to your chickens to supplement the bagged feed.

And Duke, before you go touting the veracity of the hack piece that ran on Slate, do a little digging into the statistics yourself. Based on the volume of chicken feed sales in greater Los Angeles alone, the population of backyard chickens is estimated at well over 1 million birds.

Seems to me we're dealing with something more than a bogus trend.

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genehunter wrote:
June 20, 2009 14:21

Ten thousand years of human experience raising chickens doesn't sound like a fad. I think we've experienced a recent 60-year lull. The post-WWII suburban-raised generations are being reintroduced to chickens. We're putting farm animals back where they need to be, closer to the consumer.

It's true, those of us keeping organically-raised hens for the eggs are not saving significant amounts of money. For city dwellers, it can be expensive to get proper housing. Chickens only stink when they are crowded or don't have access to bedding. A properly managed city coop does not have foul fowl odor. Manure is correctly used as a product, not treated like a pollutant.

Small flocks make amusing pets, provide fertilizer, eggs, and pest control. They don't make noise, or need to be spayed or neutered, or require access to public parks. Their population is easily managed. Hmm, maybe chickens are more practical city pets than dogs.

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paulpereira wrote:
June 19, 2009 22:15

Having raised chickens on a farm, I can't believe that anyone thinks that growing your own chickens in a city would save money.

First, chickens need to be fenced. If they are allowed to run free they will destroy a garden by eating your typical city grown veggies such as lettuce and ripe tomatoes. They will also scratch the soil looking for worms.

Second, they need lots of feed. I'm not sure that your typical pet supply store has chicken feed, but in small quantities it would be expensive.

Third, they lay eggs in cycles, typically 2 eggs every three days. In one week that amounts to about four eggs per chicken.

Fourth, their droppings smell bad and unlike the cat, chickens cannot be trained to use the litter box.

Maybe there are some folk who are trying to raise their own chickens but I would 'assume' that this is just a fad that will soon disappear in much the Rubic's Cube, Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmo did.