By Tim Joyce, KOIN Local 6 Environmental Reporter
Add the Oregon coastal community of Cannon Beach to the list of communities rethinking the boundaries between which animals are pets—and which are livestock. The city council voted to change the city code recently to allow homeowners to keep up to four chickens (but no roosters) on their property.
This is a growing trend in many communities, and not only in the Pacific Northwest. Exactly why is hard to say. There’s one argument for food security, as pet chickens can provide fresh eggs in a tight economic time. The economy is not the only reason for everyone—incredibly fresh eggs are supposedly of much higher quality when it comes to the taste. In very “foodie” Portland, that argument often holds even more sway. I have a feeling it’s a combination of several factors that cause people to give a very old idea a shot in modern times.
This last weekend the non-profit Growing Gardens, of which I am a board member, wrapped up an annual event called “Tour de Coops”. This sixth year of the event featured nearly 20 of the coolest chicken digs around town. Record numbers of people bought guidebooks to attend. Chickens, it seems, are a hot topic these days.
I jumped on this bandwagon, in spirit, when I bought my house in inner SE Portland two years ago. Part of the shed was built into a hen house—and the attached portion of the yard fenced off for an official chicken run. I fully expected to get chickens someday—just to give it a try. That someday turned out to be this summer.
At first scouring the outer parts of the Portland metro at some feed and farm stores that shall remain nameless. The people working there were either not helpful or downright absent to any questions I had about how to get started. I read up on the care of chickens in “Keep Chickens: Tending small flocks in cities, suburbs, and other small spaces”. Coincidentally it’s by a Portland area author, named Barbara Kilarski. I also stumbled upon a gem of a store where I purchased my chicks a feed/farm/garden store—in the heart of urban SE Portland. Urban Farm is near the corner of SE 20th and Belmont, not where you’d expect the type of store that sells such things. Such is life though, as many of us know, in city that prides itself on keeping things weird. Urban Farm store had many different breeds of chickens that will lay eggs at different intensities at different times of the year—and the eggs will come in different colors and sizes as well.
It has been roughly a month now with my new housemates. Chickens are a lot less work than I thought. They’re in what’s called a “brooder” which is a container (in my case an old 30 gallon fish tank) with a heat lamp on 24 hours a day to keep the little ones warm. I try to hold them once a day, but they seem skittish still around people. This might have something to do with them being in the busiest room in the house (the kitchen) and in a glass enclosure—where just about anything and everyone in the house that moves through there can freak them out. Oh well, live and learn.
My primary delay in getting chickens was the dogs. I wanted the pups to be old enough to be commanded to not chase after the chickens. This is proving difficult—they are quite curious about the new additions. So, far no incidents—but this weekend I took the chickens out for most of the afternoon to their soon to be new digs just so they could scratch in the dirt and do chicken type things. The dogs watched in amazement at these little guys pecking and clawing at the ground. I don’t know if the dogs wanted to play with them or eat them.
I am amazed at how fast they’re growing. The chicks are getting big and how quick the fuzzy little soft, adorable chicks are looking like slightly more menacing actual hens. Soon, it will be time to put them outside in the hen house all the time. I might have to run an extension cord to keep the heat lamp on there for the first few weeks outside. Come September, they should be old enough to start producing eggs. Some breeds will produce an egg a day. That really can add up. Neighbors have warned me that raccoons and other predators will really try and get at them. That means I’ll have to spend some time while they’re in the brooder further protecting the chicken run from potential predators. I have a giant roll of chicken wire and a staple gun to make that happen.
I’m curious how this experiment will turn out. Will I find them more to be like curious avian pets? Will it feel like I’m some sort of nouveau urban farmer tending my flock? Will I be overwhelmed with fresh eggs? Will I be able to eat eggs that comes in browns and shades of green? I have no idea—but I’ll keep you posted.
