It's so cute!! Maybe for a few days the neighbor's backyard turned into a barnyard is cute; but then there's a few warm days when the air isn't moving quite as well, and the barnyard smells settle in. And the diseases that can be prevented only by knowledgeable farm workers also set in. And the stray animals that are attracted to unprotected poultry also set in.

When we move to cities and suburbs we accept the concept that our neighbors also live in cities and suburbs. Our neighbors don't want to live within 30 feet of chicken coops, or pig runs, or rabbit hatches. Our neighbors want to live among suburbanites or urban dwellers who rely on supermarkets for food and don't have to worry that their gardens will be overrun by wild dogs attracted by the smell of animal blood.

If you want to keep chickens, move to a farm!!

While there may be drawbacks to having chickens, the idea of raising more food locally is one worth considering further. In terms of energy consumption, current food production and delivery methods are very energy intensive. On average, food in the grocery store has traveled 1500 miles and changed hands 6 times. Community gardens, farmer's markets, co-op farms all seem like 'hippie' ideas. However, if viewed from the perspective of energy use and conservation, they don't really seem that 'far out'.

Chickens do provide low cost eggs, and innocuous pest control. However, dealing with their waste isn't 'free'. If they're free range, they are the best pest controllers but then they mess everywhere. And getting the waste from the coop to the garden to fertilise with it is a labourious and unpleasant task. Also, turning a chicken into a ready to barbecue product is quite a bit of waste generating work. Not everyone has a proper means of innards disposal available.

I'm sorry our "Cranky old man" doesn't want chickens living nearby. I live in a lovely subdivision with tight restrictions, but that doesn't stop the neighbor's dog from barking, or my other neighbor from gunning the engines on his trucks, snow mobile, etc., or others from having loud late night parties! Chickens don't have to be smelly (if you have a huge flock, yes...). They are quiet (without a rooster). And have a purpose! One, healthier food, but two, Fun! Nothing used to relax me more than watching my hens scratch around for food. I'm checking with my city ordinances tomorrow to see if I can have chickens! My grandchildren would love them too - thanks for the article!! From a Happy Old Granny!

Unfortunately, the cities move to the farms also.

However, I think it's great for people to have chickens. I grew up on a chicken farm, and I have really learned to appreciate these animals.

We have a few chickens "in town" and we had them for almost two years before one of our neighbors happened to look over our fence and notice them. According to my neighbors, they really are much more pleasant to live next-door to than a dog. They fall asleep every night at 5pm and make no noise until morning. Even then, because they can get out by themselves our chickens "don't make a peep" :) until about 10am. They stop making noises about 3pm. My one neighbor said she likes the little noises they make--she finds it soothing.

If you're going to get them though, make sure they stay in your yard, and you get a breed known for being large enough to fend for themselves against cats etc., one that is unable to fly, and one that makes very little sound. Those breeds fit in better in the city. By doing so, you show respect for your neighbors. (Also, giving neighbors fresh eggs doesn't hurt!)

1 live chicken cost? Dead, they are about $2.99 for a nice rotissere meal.

If you don't come from money, who has the financial resources to afford a farm these days? Not many. Grumpy grandpa needs to get a life. People should be more self-sufficient and chickens are a great idea.

lives on chickens! The last meal eaten on the planet will be the last chicken to have escaped the chopping block. GO CHICKENS, GOOOOO!

Here in the inter mountain west, we have turned the best farmland into suburbia. Why? makes for good landscaping. Anyway chickens don't smell, and they manure is all the latest craze in fertilizer. Have to keep the manure dry or it will attract flies.

If you don't have a rooster, how are the hens fertilized?

Ben

The trend towards city chickens has already left the gate. I live in Sonoma County and an ammendment is being prepared to the zoning laws to allow 6 hens on a residential one unit lot. I had more until a neighbor complained, and I found out chickens were not allowed in my area even though there were hundreds of feral chickens running around here when I started to care for some of them. Now after much rustle and tussle and help from friends, neighbors, newspapers and County supervisor, I at least have six of the original hens. I know I am getting eggs from happy hens, delicious eggs.
The City of Sonoma, just recently enacted a plan to allow chickens and rabbits on lots of 6,ooo square feet or more.
I am reading about the same thing happening all over the country, just Google City Chickens, I did, and found that chickens are being seen as part of a sustainable life style, along with home grown produce and other practices.

Ben, current chicken breeds are bred to lay eggs w/out a rooster,,they just aren't fertilized and won't hatch, but they lay just the same.

Ben! You brought up another problem of not being truly self-sufficient! Chickens do not need, or would you not want them to, be fertilized by a rooster to lay eggs every day. You cannot have roosters in city-like neighborhoods...so must by baby chicks from somewhere else every few years to keep the eggs a coming!

My parents told stories about how they survived the depression. They had chickens, a cow and a garden. They were their main food sources. A cow might be stretching it in the city, but chickens and a garden are quite practical.

Food storage items would really be enhanced with the help of chicken products and garden fresh vegetables.

If you think the news has the seeds of another depression, then now might be the time to really get prepared.

Chickens don't smell unless concentrated in large numbers in small coops with inadequate ventilation. None of the situations described in the article describe the sort of situation that creates smells. And if the chickens stay on the lawn, there are few problems with droppings. But keep them fenced in, and if they can fly well, cut back their flight feathers on the ends of their wings to keep them on the ground. The only real problem is that they can attract raccoons, which are everywhere but are rarely seen except at night.

Don't they freeze in the winter?

We have always had a few chickens and fresh eggs. We built a chicken yard and chicken house in a corner of a cinder block fence. The openings to the nests were in the front of the chicken house for easy access to the nesting boxes and eggs. We do not have a smell from the chickens. They eat table scraps too, since they are omnivorous..meaning they eat vegetables, grains and meats. (Bugs) If the cage has a wire mesh top and sides, nothing will get them. They have a sturdy chicken house built from wood scraps. If you put a light bulb in the leak prove box where the nesting boxes are, they won't freeze. We usually have four chickens. If you have too many eggs, you can actually freeze the eggs without the shell. I have a bread recipe that I make in the bread maker that calls for an egg. With a garden, eggs, stored grains and water, we can always have a meal.

We had chickens in our Salt Lake neighborhood-- little silkies -- and the neighbors never complained -- even though we had a couple of (I guess illegal) roosters. They were free ranged and had a coop to close them up in at night. We bought grain chicken feed and fed them vegetable scraps. And while we had them we had no snails, no pill bugs. The only problem we had was with dogs jumping our fence (once the dogs owner even watched as his dog grabbed a chicken) -- we lost a few that way -- and then a raccoon or a skunk or maybe even someones loose pet ferret killed the rest. We would love to have two or three chickens again -- they were wonderful pets and we loved the eggs. But we would have to build a more secure run -- and only let them out to move about the yard and gardens when we were out there. There was no smell problem -- and our own dogs and cats didn't bother them.