The Eggs of Change?

April 1st, 2009

By Alex Perrotti

Keeping chickens for their eggs is becoming increasingly common, even in cities. As people become more concerned with the quality and sources of their food, interest in home food production is growing. Chickens produce delicious fresh eggs, with the added bonus of eating scraps and weeds and producing manure for the garden. Some people even find their clucking and scratching soothing.

In most cities it is legal to keep a small flock of chickens (no roosters). Chickens are easy to care for, and it is often possible to build an inexpensive coop with recycled materials. Their minimal space requirements work in even the smallest city yards. And skeptical neighbors tend to become enthusiastic once they taste a few fresh eggs!

The bi-monthly magazine, Backyard Poultry, and online forums and blogs, signal the increase in popularity of keeping chickens. One 30-person workshop on basic backyard chicken care held recently by the Angelic Organics Learning Center, near Chicago, sold out within 48 hours. According to Martha Boyd, the center’s director, urban chicken keeping is “exploding all over the country."

www.BackyardChickens.com
www.urbanchickens.net
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/green/chi-city-chickens...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15062.cfm