City Chicks
For whatever reason, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of having chickens. I don’t even really eat eggs all that much, and I really don’t think that I have the chutzpah to actually kill the chicken itself for dinner, but there’s something about the idea of a bunch of little hens running around in the yard that I find infinitely appealing. Perhaps it’s the rise of chicken raising as a hip urban movement in cities like Seattle (detailed here, here and here), or it might be the fact that last time I went to my friend’s house there was a monstrous contraption in the front yard apparently designed to hold chickens.
You can find some seriously chic chicken coops online that are a far cry from the antique sheet metal apartment building that I used to use for storage (oh, how I wish I hadn’t gotten rid of that). And there are tons of people who get really into the project and basically build their chickens treehouses in the backyard.
My mom grew up in a somewhat rural community and there’s a great store in town where you can go to find wranglers, horse feed and plants all in the same place. In the spring, they have huge incubators full of chicks, and it’s always one of my favorite places to visit if I happen to be in town.
Do you raise chickens? What has been your experience with them? I’d love to know more about it!
July 4th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
I am soooo with you. I’ve wanted chickens ever since I was 15 years old and visited my uncle, who had about 10 hens in a big, airy hen house. The eggs were HUGE and more orange than I’d ever seen before. He did consume the chickens once they were past their prime (I don’t think I could do that!), but those chicks were also very loved. The image of chickens pecking and flitting about in the yard is so cozy to me.
July 5th, 2009 at 11:08 am
What an interesting post, I didn’t realize chickens had become vogue! I had a friend in school who had chickens. They lived on a pretty busy street and the chickens just wandered around their yard. They became like pets, they couldn’t eat chicken after a while.