chickens are really birds, so shouldn’t i hate them?

I would have loved to find the chicken named Penny (pic 11)—can you imagine the photo opportunities?—but alas, it was not meant to be. The urban chicken tour was organized into about 5 groups of urban chicken-raisers that were within walking distance of each other. We chose the group closest to a friend’s house and toured four backyards, all with very different coop approaches. As one informational sign on the tour stated, you can spend as much or as little as you want when raising your chickens. The first setup was fairly simple, with a basic framed-out coop covered in chicken wire. Nearby was another frame of baby chicks. The kids, of course, were thrilled by both sets of chickens, old and young. I always enjoy seeing the kind that have feathers covering their legs all the way down to their feet. Funky.

The second coop was much fancier. Look at that thing!

 

One of the chicken owners treated us to a small show of feeding the chickens some clover. I found it interesting that chickens do not subsist solely on grain feed and grass, but also lettuce, bugs—enough to assist greatly with insect control in one’s garden and yard, as well as shrimp and oyster shells, which fortify their own egg composition.

The third coop was a little less fancy, although it had an apparent second floor where the white chicken disappeared to, mystifying the children. You could hear her knocking around in there, but she was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s the white one?” K.Lo asked so many times that N.Lo began to echo: “White one. White one,” in a semi-frantic way. The coop had a window to look in, but as one little girl noted twice, mainly for effect, “That window sure is mighty dirty.” You couldn’t actually see inside.

I enjoyed the sign, “Welcome to Our Coop.” Also, around the corner, the chicken owners were in the process of building a second coop, which I guessed would eventually bookend behind which the chickens were free to roam? The playhouse was small, but charming, and gave me the greatest. idea. EVER. I’m just saying!

Fourth and finally, we landed in this backyard, which I couldn’t help taking photos of, in addition to the coop. It was such an eclectic little fairy-tale spot, no lawn, but lots of big trees and glass ornaments hanging everywhere and just stuff to look at. I could see myself in such a backyard daydreaming life away. Magical. I would love an outdoor space like this one day, filled with plants and patios and metal art and random stepping stones made of salvaged stone, although I admit I would never use the polished granite used by these folks, knowing that face-breaking would be an inevitability. And in fact, just as I had that thought, it started to rain, and the chicken owner advised that we should all be careful, because those suckers get slippery. …Yeah! I loved that they adorned the magnolia tree with glass wind chimes, prisms, and mirrors, and that plants covered so much of the space, but none of that plant life was grass. Also loved that um, they totally had my sign on their coop! Check that out. I love it. Regardless of whether I will ever raise backyard chickens (my friend J. has grand plans for my children one day joining 4-H and participating in the annual hatchling project, so this misadventure may just be inevitable), I loved the urban chicken tour. Fun stuff!