A few miles east of our rural Boulder County home, the City of Longmont, Colo., began issuing permits for backyard chickens on March 9. On the first day, half of the 50 allotted permits were issued before noon. Under the new city ordinance, permit holders are allowed to keep up to four chickens in residential areas. Longmont's move is part of a growing trend of raising backyard chickens, an outgrowth of the urban farming movement. In recent years, several other mid-size cities have permitted backyard chickens, including Ann Arbor, Mich., Fort Collins, Colo., and Madison, Wisc., joining the ranks of major cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
A couple generations ago, many families raised their own chickens for food or extra income. Now, the convergence of the down economy and the local food movement have set the stage for a home roosting comeback. Savoring fresh eggs and fried chicken during childhood family vacations at my grandparents' Missouri farm, I can understand the nostalgic attraction of backyard chickens. Nonetheless, I think I'll merely observe this trend, rather than fully participate in it, especially because our family includes our wanna-be-hunter Golden Retriever, Buddy. Aside from envisioning him terrorizing chicks and chasing chickens, I can picture Buddy (rather smell him) vigorously rolling in poultry droppings and perfuming our indoors with eau de cologne poulet poupe. And I still have a memory of our long-passed Chesapeake Bay Retriever proudly dropping at our feet a freshly killed hen, not more than five minutes after arriving at my relatives' farm. Tough old bird or not, there was the main course for our evening meal.
If you're interested in raising chickens, you'll find plenty of advice and community at Backyard Chickens.
