Aug 6^th

I’m sure this is what President Hoover really meant!

A friend and neighbor saved me a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about Urban Chickens.  (Thanks, Andrew!) The article is from Aug. 2^nd and describes a recent trend in revising “chicken laws” in many major cities.  Some urban neighborhoods are not only changing their ordinances due to demand by residents to own chickens, but are also hosting “coop tours” to show off some of the more inventive poultry palaces.  Austin has the Funky Chicken Coop Tour, Portland has the Tour de Coops, and Dallas has A Peep at the Coops.  One lady showed off her fancy coop and her hens, Buffy the Wormslayer, Mother Clucker, and Attila the Hen.  “Coop tours are a sign that more city dwellers are becoming interested in urban farming and raising chickens. Pittsburg passed an ordinance requested by residents earlier this year that enables people to keep up to three chickens on a 2,000 sq. ft. lot.” (WSJ, 8/2/11) Closer to home, some neighborhoods in and around Birmingham have similar guidelines for urban chickens. As far as I know there is only one coop in our neighborhood and anyone is welcome to take a tour any time. 

Still Life With Chicken

If you are interested in having your own little backyard petting zoo, I can recommend two great websites to help guide you through the process.  www.backyardchickens.com  is the largest and fastest-growing community of chicken enthusiasts in the world.  www.mypetchicken.com is a wonderful site for beginning chicken mommies and daddies.  I use both sites regularly.  The latter even has a “chicken-chooser” tool that lets you pick the perfect chicken breed or breeds for your family.  That’s how we chose Daisy, Violet and Rosie and it obviously worked for the B’games.  We couldn’t be happier with our little brood.  The girls are 16 weeks old today.  We should expect our first egg in about four weeks.  Anyone wish to place a wager on who is first?  My money is on Daisy.  She owes us 275 bucks!

Daisy's best side