Poultry People!

(click on highlighted links for additional details)

     For those new to the backyard chicken movement you may be a bit surprised by the passion Poultry People feel about their hens.  In many cases placing a high value on fresh and locally produced food drives their passion. For others, backyard poultry provide their children opportunities for learning by doing. There are as many reasons for backyard poultry as there are poultry breeds.
     Children: Urban backyard chickens give city families greater ability to  participate in 4-H  and FFA poultry programs. Chickens can be used to teach kids of all ages. The Hobbyfarms web site web site detail lessons for science, literature, history and more. By keeping a few hens, children will also learn about sustainability and recycling as they see firsthand how grass, clippings, bugs, weeds, and kitchen scraps feed to hens are turned into delicious eggs.  They will also see how bedding and waste from the chickens improves garden soil, which in turn produces delicious fruits and vegetables.  

     Extension of the backyard garden: Organic Gardening Magazine article - 5 Reasons to Raise Chickens outlines several of the benefits a few backyard hens provide. Every day the chicken's natural cycle provides benefits at every turn. They love to eat slugs and bugs, their waste when composted with their bedding and leaves produce a nitrogen-rich fertilizer, they love to eat kitchen scraps (limit to about 10% of daily intake), they consider weeds their mission and THEN they produce a perfect egg. 

Chicken tractors allow access to different areas of the garden.  

    The art of backyard hens:  Now here is where it gets interesting.
Poultry People love their peeps. Some craft artful habitats and others have built a social life around poultry. If you key in backyard chickens into google you will retrieve over 4 million hits. There are urban poultry stores, chicken sitters, coop builders, blogs, forums, breeders and so much more.  I personally, appreciate the attention given to this wholesome hobby that focuses on healthful activities!  Chickens are entertaining and endearing, and if you are not careful, you too, may find a growing desire to have a few backyard hens yourself. Below, you will find a few links that illustrate Poultry Passion:

• Artful Coops: Coop images
• Architect Designed Coop:Coops from Portland designers
• Forum: BackyardChicken forum
• Poultry Cams:The Hen Cam
• Chicken Radio: The Chicken Whisperer! 
• Blogs: Top 10 urban chickens blogs

I will posts a series of articles intended to help people who want more information on backyard chickens.  Here is the forth installment of Why backyard chickens have become commonplace in America's backyards: written by Domenica Protheroe


If you live in Monmouth, Oregon - please take a moment to take the City of Monmouth, Oregon Chicken Survey  http://www.ci.monmouth.or.us/