Peace in poultry
What can hens do for you?
By Kim Carlson
January 23, 2008
The next-door neighbors have chickens, and on hot summer afternoons I cluck cluck to them and toss them overripe raspberries through the fence.
As children, both my husband and I gathered dozens of warm eggs from our families’ henhouses — and saw the carnage when a family of raccoons or a neighborhood dog raided the pen.
One spring day years ago, when my father-in-law was away on a trip, UPS delivered a box of fluffy, clucking hatchlings to our front door so that we could look after them until he returned. (Let me tell you, a shipment of 15 chilly, hungry, and disoriented chicks feels like an awesome responsibility.)
But I can’t say I’ve raised chickens. However, our newest Dinner Guest blogger, Sarah Gilbert, does raise chickens, and she’s got compelling reasons to do so. Meet Sarah through this slide show that she prepared for a recent event in Portland. Then, head over and check out her latest blog post in which she introduces us to Gilda — and Gilda’s beautiful, wholesome, plentiful eggs.
All BooksBackyard Poultry RaisingThe Chicken-Growing, Egg-Laying, Feather-Plucking, Incubating, Caponizing, Finger-Licking Handbook |
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There are 3 comments on this item
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1. by live2eat on Jan 27, 2008 at 6:00 PM PST
Kim, what a great article! Because eggs are a very demanding ingredient in many dishes, hens are finally starting to receive that credit they deserve. The slideshow was a fresh and original, yet while reading it two questions occurred: the first is the simple “where do i get a hen?” and the second is a question about the article itself. I am curious where our society is getting its eggs, if we live in the city. Will there always be farmers raising and collecting eggs near us? I live in LA, and it seems almost impossible to find local farmers sporting fresh eggs. So if i go to the supermarket, where are my eggs originally fom?
2. by cafemama on Jan 28, 2008 at 4:47 PM PST
live2eat: I don’t know what the rules are in LA, but in many cities you can keep chickens in your backyard (or for that matter, inside your apartment -- there was a piece in the NY Times sunday mag a while back about a chicken kept in a condo in Manhattan!). you can get hens at any feed store (you probably have them in LA and don’t know it :) and some nurseries, or through mail order. MyPetChicken will allow you to order just a chicks at once. I also recommend the book, ‘Keep Chickens,’ which discusses urban chickens.
I think the best way to make sure there will always be local farmers with eggs, is to either keep chickens yourself, or demand them! ask at your farmer’s market, and keep asking, eventually they’ll wise up and start supplying.
3. by live2eat on Jan 28, 2008 at 7:21 PM PST
cafemama: thanks for replying to my questions. I have a friend who told me about MyPetChicken, but i had forgotten, so thank-you for the reminder! We do have a local farmers market, and i have just talked to my grocer about the hen-keeping laws here. Thanks again, Live2eat.
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