The Urban Chicken Movement – Raising Backyard Hens
No need for roosters and the loud wake-up calls; hens don’t need the guys to lay eggs.
An “urban chicken” movement has swept across the US in recent years. All over the country, more and more people are raising backyard chickens as a variation of the urban farming movement that has gained popularity nationwide. Many cities, including New York, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Ann Arbor, Ft. Collins, and South Portland have all voted to allow residents to raise backyard poultry within city limits.
The economic advantage – a small investment for free daily eggs – is driving some. But for most people, the main appeal are the organic and environmental benefits. Raising livestock or agriculture at home reduces the energy consumption and carbon emissions generally associated with the transportation of food.
Raising backyard hens also provides an alternative to factory farms that pollute local ecosystems with huge amounts of animal waste – which can at times exceed the waste from a small U.S. city, according to government reports. The waste also emits potent greenhouse gases, especially methane, a forcible contributor to global warming.
The benefits aren’t just environmental, there are many health benefits as well. Remember the egg recall of 2010 when more than 500,000 eggs were found to be contaminated with salmonella? This recall helped not only to inspire widespread dislike for industrial egg production, but also helped to promote the trend of keeping backyard hens. Advocates of raising backyard poultry claim that birds raised on a small scale are less likely to carry diseases than factory-farmed poultry. (However, some public health officials are concerned that backyard chickens could elevate avian flu risks.)
What’s even more, eggs from chickens allowed to forage naturally have, on average, three times more vitamin E, two more times omega-3 fatty acids, two-thirds more vitamin A, and seven times more beta carotene than factory-farmed birds.
Raising your own hens at home also affords you the benefits of natural insect control in your yard and garden, free garden fertilizer, and the freshest of eggs without any added chemicals. And, for some, there is the added benefit that, when the hens are through laying in a few years, there is fresh chicken for the pot.
However, some would suggest that there is something contradictory about opposing factory farming by raising a chicken for a couple of years and then killing it when its productivity turns south. For those who do not want to eat the hen, there are other, more humane options, including sending it to a farm sanctuary or keeping the hen as a pet, although this is a seemingly risky choice, as chickens are not bred to be companion pets and they would be at risk of dying from a predator.
End Note — If you’re considering adopting a backyard hen, please consider the following: Backyard chickens frequently fall prey to dogs, skunks, coyotes, foxes, hawks, and, especially, raccoons. Be sure to keep this in mind when determining where to house your chicken. Look for roof space, patios, or balconies. And keep in mind your hen needs to peck, which means they need some soil and space.
Photo Credit: Thanks to some of our Bamboosa family for these pictures – Clay and Jay Wilklow from Greenville, SC love their little backyard hens.
