Chickens in the Suburban Backyard

The old joke is that urbanites and suburbanites think that their food really does come from the grocery store, but if that was ever true, it's not anymore. Since I've started this blog, I've been learning about gardens all over my neighborhood. I've recently been invited to attend a meeting of my local garden club and am looking forward to hearing the speaker discuss urban gardening.

One of the more unconventional grow-it-yourself stories in my neighborhood comes from a friend who is raising chickens in her suburban home. Currently, she has a mother and daughter (Roxey and Daisy). Previously, she had a couple (Duke and Daisy). Her community wasn't too keen on the rooster, so the pair were retired to a farm in Indiana owned by friends of mine.

Recently, my suburban chicken raising friend brought me some eggs:


Fresh eggs from chickens whose names I know



The best looking chicken I've ever met.
This one likes to hide.

Fresh eggs look entirely different from the ones purchased in a supermarket, with a darker yoke and a firmer and clearer white. I've heard it's because of the difference in the chickens' diets. You can find a good comparison between fresh and store bought eggs here. When the chickens first begin laying, the eggs are smaller than what you're used to, but eventually they eggs are of normal size. Different chickens lay different color eggs, white, various shades of brown and sometimes even a very pale blue.

Descriptions of raising backyard chickens can be found here, here and here. I've learned from the friends who own the Indiana farm that took in Duke and Daisy that chickens like to pick at the bugs in the ground, but also like the compost from the kitchen enjoying just about any vegetable including corn, lettuce and nappa cabbage. Surprisingly, they like to pick at their own egg shells. It gives them the calcium they need for laying more eggs.


A chicken friend from Western Indiana

 Hens can find the funniest places to lay their eggs. When I was at the farm, the owner showed me all the nooks and crannies in which they find the eggs. The suburban chickens have the entire yard, but like to stick their eggs on the precarious corner where their perch meets a wall.





A bantam rooster

 My friend purchased her first pair of suburban chickens as chicks, and as I mentioned before, the rooster had to go. The problem with purchasing chicks is that it's hard to tell the hens from the roosters when they're young. Sexing chicks is a highly skilled profession. Those trained to do it are eligible for those special visas that get expats into attractive international travel and it's a fairly well-paid career in Japan.