Ethno-ornithology Sunday: Urban chickens

The reasons behind the recent urban chicken "boom" vary. Some of the main reasons given by urban chicken fanatics are getting back in touch with nature, raising their own food and the joy that watching chickens in their yard brings them. And why not? "Farm fresh" eggs have become a popular food item at natural food stores, roadside stands and growers/farmers markets over the last decade. A similar trend is urban/backyard gardening. It seems natural then that chickens would come next. Chickens are good cultivators, their scratching aerates the soil. They eat "pest" insects, for example beetles and grubs, they're great composters and their feces is good for fertilizing backyard gardens. In fact many people are now employing "chicken tractors," portable pens that allow chickens to scratch, consume and poop to their hearts content, in their gardens. Most chickens produce between 200 and 320 eggs per year, though some lay an average of slightly more than one egg per day. Finally, chickens are fun to watch. Their personalities vary as much as any species and they come in a wide array of colors, sizes and productivity. Additionally many breeds make great pets, they enjoy being held, scratched, kissed and otherwise loved on.

To my utter delight many urban cities across the country allow the keeping of backyard chickens. Some of these cities include Ann Arbor, MI, Seattle, WA, Portland, OR (Corvallis and Eugene too!), New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, Missoula, MT and Albuquerque, NM. Ordinances vary, for example Missoula allows up to six (Missoula, MT draft ordinance 12/07) while Seattle only allows up to three (Seattle Tilth 2007). If you're interested in raising chickens in your backyard contact your local animal control officer or city hall to look up city ordinances.

In researching all of this Seattle has become an even more amazing place to live. Seattle Tilth offers City Chicken 101 and 201 classes plus an annual Chicken Coop Tour. A story co-created by Seattle Times writer Paula Block and Pacific Northwest magazine photographer Harley Soltes highlights some of the greatest coops I've ever seen in "Custom Coops." Another Seattle Times article, "Chickens in the city: a tightknit brood" by Nicole Tsong, discusses the increasing popularity of chickens, featuring a coop built with sustainability in mind. As with most cities roosters are not allowed, predominantly due to the level of noise they create.

Missoula, MT is a perfect example of how contentious farming in the city can be. Apparently there is no law regarding urban chickens (so they aren't either legal or illegal, just something in between). The video "Missoula Squabbles Over Urban Chickens" gives an excellent synopsis of the situation and its funny to boot. If you choose to watch it be warned that it does take a little while to load, even with high speed internet, its worth the wait though!

Some of the arguements against urban chickens are that they carry disease (predominantly false, they aren't more likely to carry disease than any avian pet), they smell (also predominantly false, if their coops are cleaned regularly they don't smell bad), chickens belong in the country (no! they make excellent house pets!), people are uncomfortable knowing where their food comes from (some neighbors don't want to think about it) and chickens are noisey (I won't argue that one, they can be quite talkative).

I discovered the "Urban Chickens" blog that is pretty delightful. For more information you can also go to http://urbanchickens.org/. To look at species of chickens you can go to the American Poultry Association. I love these people because they are crazy chicken enthusiasts! They also have an article for raising chickens in the city limits. You can also find a table of breeds, egg colors and other information here.

As with every other aspect of ethno-ornithology and natural resources we don't realize what we have, miss, need, etc until it's gone. We move away from the country to avoid farms, work, etc only to decide that urban farms are the next trend in sustainability and yuppiedom. Personally, I'm glad to see chickens raising to this level of fanatacism because I think they make great pets. Urban chickens back-up my point that birds are the best way to get people connected to nature. Birds are everywhere, creating a connection with nature through bird feeders, backyard chickens, birdwatching in Central Park and watching red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons nest in New York, NY. City chickens are a prime example of human's innate need to be close to nature, close to where our food comes from. Ultimately these chickens also provide their humans with the opportunity to create ever grander, ever more imaginative and increasingly sustainable coops to share and show off to their friends neighbors and other enthusiasts. So maybe I'm giving urban chicken "farmers" too much credit. Maybe urban chickens are just a way for some to feel more concerned, more holy, than thou. Eh, either way I'm loving the recent love for urban chickens, sustainability and creativity that results when the two are combined!