Photo credit: zanypurr's Flickr photostream
How would you like to wake up in the morning and eat farm-fresh eggs with your breakfast? If you had chickens in your backyard, your eggs couldn’t be of a more recent vintage.
Yes, that’s right, I am suggesting that you might want to build a coop and start raising your own Chicken Little and Henny Penny. Long thought to be the domain of country dwellers, keeping chickens has become more popular with urban farmers in recent years, as people are realizing the benefits of having their own source of free range hens and organic eggs.
Chickens not only offer up eggs and the potential for the occasional Sunday dinner, they can be fantastic weed pullers while at the same time ridding your garden of pests. They’re also omnivores who love leftovers, so you can feed them your kitchen scraps. And think of the free manure!
Rumor has it — and I am getting this information from people I know who raise chickens — that becoming a poultry farmer is relatively easy, although you will need to do some research in advance, as well as prepare a home for your flock. Also, if you’re considering keeping poultry, check your local ordinances for restrictions (if any) and definitely check with your neighborhood association.
If becoming a poultry farmer seems a bit daunting, you might consider going in with some of your neighbors. That way, everyone shares the responsibilities and costs. And think of the community-building experience!
For more information on keeping chickens, check out Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News for a wealth of helpful articles.
If you don’t have chickens in your backyard, where can you get local eggs? In Charlottesville, I’ve seen them at the farmers’ market, as well as C’ville Market, Rebecca’s, Integral Yoga, and Feast.
As for me, I don’t have chickens in my backyard — yet. My husband and I have discussed it, but haven’t taken the plunge. It helps that we get fresh eggs from a relative, so we already have a nice supply in our fridge. We’ll keep thinking about it and, who knows, maybe one day we too will have a coop behind our house.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
It is also an important lesson for kids to learn first hand where their food comes from. I am always a little surprised when kids don’t know bacon comes from a pig or that the hamburger they are eating is from a cow. Disassociation of food in terms of actually where they come from is wide spread and even shocking to me when an adult doesn’t know a source.
My 4th grader just finished a unit on chickens in her science class. They raised chicks from eggs and it was really hard on my daughter when the chicks went to live on a farm. In fact, she toyed with vegetarianism for a few days, but happily chowed down on a roast chicken the other day.
This summer, I’m going to teach my girls how to roast a chicken and have them do it from start to finish, including deboning the bird after it’s cooked. I know there are going to be some complaints, but it’s something they need to know.
When my girls go out to the farm, they help their grandmother collect eggs, so now they have a really good idea of where those come from too.
Just a few things to keep in mind:
Raising chickens is not as easy as some may believe. I fear that many people are hopping on this practice thinking that they’ll have a row of quiet hens peacefully sitting on shiny eggs in a cute, white hen house.
Chickens are loud (even without the males around), they are smelly, and they are dirty. They will fly at you and dive-bomb you from above when you go into your coop. Their pecking is constant and you must be prepared to have the yard where they live to be almost destroyed. Having a coop requires a constant, daily commitment. You have to have backup if you are going to be away for any period of time (getting a chicken sitter isn’t as easy as getting a dog/cat sitter). Be aware that having them in your yard WILL attract predators (obviously, the species depends on your neighborhood).
We’re lucky that we have the farmer’s market, Cville Market, and CSA egg shares that can provide us all with fresh, local eggs. If you consume vast quantities, you might be a good candidate for a coop, but be sure to think about the commitment you are making.
Quick correction: IY does not sell eggs. =)