City Chicks: Easy-to-keep animals part of a growing off-the-farm trend

When one of John Conner's downtown Colorado Springs neighbors started raising chickens a year ago he thought to himself, "Wait a clucking minute."

"‘Is that legal?' I wondered."

It's a natural question. After all, this is 2008. Cities have codes banning barnyard animals in urban areas. Goats are a no-no in Colorado Springs. Llamas, too. It was only a few years ago that a duck named Homer landed in court in Manitou Springs because his incessant quacking was ruffling neighbors' feathers.

To his surprise, Conner found it was legal to have up to 10 chickens in Colorado Springs, raising a new question: "Where can I get some?"

Conner and his wife, Louise, now have three hens in their small Shooks Run yard, providing a steady stream of eggs and entertainment.

"They're easy to keep and enjoyable," he said as he watched his hens quietly peck at the dirt in their coop. "They give us fresh eggs and manure for the garden. I wish we had done it sooner."

The Conners are part of a growing army of backyard chicken farmers rediscovering an old practice. Inspired by rising egg prices, environmental concerns and the quest for better-tasting eggs, more people are raising hens everywhere from city fire escapes to elaborate suburban coups.

They're forming online communities and even banding together to fight laws that bar chickens from many cities. Fort Collins recently voted to drop a long-held chicken ban. Longmont is thinking of doing the same.

Colorado Springs is in the odd position of being so behind on livestock legislation that it's now on the chicken-friendly forefront. And the city has plenty of low-profile hen harborers.

"There are more of us out there than you would think. It's sort of a chicken underground," said Nancy Oxenhandler, who has a coop tucked behind her stately Victorian in the Old North End.

It was her daughters who hatched the idea. The girls had been involved in 4-H for years - showing goats, mostly. But city codes required the goats to live beyond city limits, so when a neighbor offered a handful of fuzzy chicks, they jumped at the chance.

"We're farm nerds living in the city," said Jenna Oxenhandler, 15. "And we could have chickens here legally."

Well, almost legally.

Of the six birds they raised from chicks, one turned out to be a rooster. Roosters are illegal in Colorado Springs because of their relentless cock-a-doodle-doos.

"Someone called and complained," said Jenna, "So we had to get rid of him."

The remaining hens make only the occasional cackle when they lay an egg about once a day. Otherwise they quietly cluck as they strut in their pen.

More and more people are crowing about the benefits of chickens.

"It's really starting to get big, fast," said Rob Ludlow, who runs BackyardChickens.com.

The site, where new and experienced chicken fanciers can trade tips, just hit 12,000 members and is adding about 50 per day.

He said it is driven in part by the same back-to-theearth movement that made 2008 a record year for vegetable seed sales. People just seem to be finding new joy in old agricultural practices.

"But there are a plethora of reasons," Ludlow said. "People are realizing chickens are a multipurpose pet. They eat bugs and weeds, they're really fun to watch. And how many pets make you breakfast?"

Free eggs are especially appealing now that the price of a carton isn't exactly chicken feed. It's up 18.2 percent since last year, according to the Consumer Price Index, and the USDA expects the price to climb about 5 percent before the end of the year. The average price for a dozen regular eggs was $2.16, this spring, up 55 cents from the fall, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.

The Conners' three chickens lay about 50 eggs per month. At $4 per dozen for organic eggs, the Conners figure their birds easily cover the $105 they spend on grain every year and the $2 they spend for each chick.

"But we spent a lot building a nice coop," Louise Conner said.

The shed-size coop has wire walls and a wire floor to protect from foxes and raccoons (built a bit too late for one of the chickens, which was snatched by a fox), and a cozy nesting box with a door in the side for collecting eggs.

Louise Conner said caring for the birds is worth it because the fresh eggs have a richer flavor and firmer whites that are better for baking.

They may also be better for you. A study by Mother Earth News found freerange eggs have 33 percent less cholesterol, 25 percent less saturated fat and noticeably more vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids than the typical cage-raised egg.

Raising your own chickens may be hip again but it is anything but new. A century ago, chickens in the yard were so common they littered American English with colloquialisms. Anyone who has ever felt "cooped up," or "brooded" over being "cocky" is using that old chicken lexicon.

Old copies of The Gazette are full of chicken gossip, including this one from 100 years ago: "After searching vainly for a gun with which to capture a supposed chicken thief, attorney R.L. Chambers of 315 Cheyenne Road, ran into his back yard shortly after daylight yesterday morning and found an escaped sea lion from the Zoo, which had perched on the bank of Chambers' fish pond, after partaking liberally of the attorney's cherished trout and scaring his chickens."

In the Old North End, the Oxenhandlers don't worry about sea lions, but last summer when they were on vacation, a gang of raccoons stole four of the chickens.

Now they are put in their coop each night. Other than that, they require little care.

And when the chickens get too old to lay eggs in a few years, will their owners send them off to be made into McNuggets?

"I don't think we could do that," said Melissa Oxenhandler, 13. "We'll probably just let them retire."

RAISING CHICKENS

Where do you buy chicks?: Most farm supply stores carry chicks in spring. You can also order them online at sites like My Pet Chicken (www.mypetchicken.com)

What do chicks cost?: $2-$4. The real cost is building a coop and buying feed.

How much room do you need?: Chickens need a minimum of 2 square feet of covered area per bird and at least 8 square feet of outdoor area.