Extra Special Pets & Animals
Jul 30, 2009 10:53 pm US/Central
Urban Chicken Trend Leads To Unwanted Birds
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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Too many people don't realize a hen's egg-laying ability tapers off after around 18 months, said Mary Britton Clouse. The birds can live up to 14 years.
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If you've heard a funny clucking coming from next door, it could be a chicken. The number of people raising chickens in their backyards is skyrocketing. It's trendy, but chicken-keeping isn't for everyone.
"C'mon kids, come on over," calls Peat Willcutt to his flock.
He's a chicken guy.
"I would say urban farmer, displaced agrarian," said Willcutt, with a laugh. He's among a growing number of people in cities and suburbs raising chickens in his backyard.
Willcutt's birds are part of a co-op in the middle of Nicollet Island on the edge of downtown Minneapolis.
"I think people are getting the idea that the clucking of a hen or the crowing of a rooster is a nice sound, a happy sound in an urban area, versus boom boom cars or gunshots or whatever," said Willcutt.
Chicken-keeping is on the rise. Last year the city of Minneapolis issued 80 small animal permits.
"Ninety-five percent are for chickens," said Dan Niziolek of Animal Care and Control. "We get some pigeons and ducks, but it's mostly chickens."
Only seven months into 2009, the city has topped last year's total with 90 permits issued. Another 82 residents have started the application process.
Willcutt and his neighbors have been keeping their chickens and a few ducks and geese for five years.
They say the birds offer great pest control, unbeatable fertilizer and delicious eggs.
"It wouldn't taste as good had I not been putting down the straw and throwing down the grain and cleaning out the nest boxes," said Willcutt. "Makes it all taste that much better."
Willcutt likes knowing where his food comes from. He eats with confidence, knowing how the eggs were handled and how the birds were raised.
He's a farmer's market manager during summer. In winter, he teaches others how to raise backyard chickens.
"I had a chicken class weekly January through May," he said. "Each one was sold-out attendance."
Clearly, chickens are cool -- until they're not. That's where Mary Britton Clouse comes in. She operates Chicken Run Rescue in north Minneapolis.
"We place 'em," explained Clouse. "We find homes for them."
Too many people don't realize a hen's egg-laying ability tapers off after around 18 months, said Clouse. The birds can live up to 14 years.
"People jump into it not recognizing that they're going to have the bird a lot longer than they're going to have eggs," said Clouse.
She regularly gets calls from the Humane Society. Clouse said some of the birds escape or get lost. Others were involved in cockfighting.
She categories her birds into "permanents" which she'll keep until they die and "fosters." Right now she's trying to find a home for two roosters and another chicken of unknown gender.
Clouse's mission is to find good homes for unwanted, and sometimes abused, chickens.
"We have two roosters who have been with us since Christmas," said Clouse. "Very difficult to adopt roosters. Nobody wants ... everybody wants the hens."
As interest in chicken keeping grows, Clouse's workload will too.
She's certain that people's good intentions will lead to an increase in chickens looking for a home.
For more information on raising your own chickens, click (or cluck) on the links below.
BackyardChickens.com
ChickenCrossing.org
BrittonClouse: Chicken Run Rescue
BrittonClouse: City Chicken Care Class
BrittonClouse: Adoption Application
Petfinder.org: Chicken Run Rescue
Paula Engelking, Producer
Contact Paula
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