edible Marin and Wine Country Summer 2010 : Page 48

ROOST: RETURN OF THE BACKYARD HOME TO CHICKEN BY ROBIN CARPENTER 48 | EDIBLE MARIN & WINE COUNTRY SUMMER 2010 Photo: Sean Cope

HOME TO ROOST: RETURN OF THE BACKYARD CHICKEN

ROBIN CARPENTER

"If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard." –Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz "There are chickens in the trees, there are chickens in the snow, there are chickens in the air, there are chickens everywhere. Chick, chick, chick, chicken!" –Luis Carpenter-Urroz (age 5) Walking into the meticulously landscaped suburban backyard I hear a soft chattering sound. I'm visiting Mary Tilbury, a former Coach handbag designer, artist and soccer mom whose children are leaving the nest. I'm there to meet her new roommates–Sophia, Prudence, Checkers and Tikka Masala. Underneath a cloud of apple blossoms sits a chicken coop made of silvery grey recycled redwood. An artfully constructed wire enclosure surrounds the coop area and an adjoining vegetable garden. Mary's artistic eye clearly played a hand in the design–from the unusual sliding garden gate to the inclusion of her own sculptures. Inside the enclosure, the chickens gather near Mary's feet–she's obviously the top of the pecking order. Minus the gingham skirt and starched apron, Mary is standing with her "girls" the same way our great grandmothers did. Mary grew up in Los Angeles and her husband grew up in New York–neither had ever been around chickens before, at least not live ones. . . Mary can't pinpoint the exact moment she contracted backyard chicken fever–seeing her neighbor's chickens, paying $7 a dozen for farm fresh eggs, or maybe tallying up the money spent on fertilizing her garden. The ranks of the backyard chicken farmers had just gained another happy member. Before the 1950s, raising chickens in urban areas was commonplace. But the arrival of supermarket eggs that coincided with the advent of the ultra-sanitized suburban lifestyle made ownership of backyard chickens seem backwards. The patio culture required us to align ourselves with "modernity" and urged us to deny our relationship with the animals that provided our food. We shooed our loyal chicken companions to the side and wrote ordinances limiting any hint of farm life in our "new and improved" lives. Current ordinances in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties regarding the keeping of chickens in residential areas vary. Sausalito's 1946 ordinance allows chickens with a permit from the city health officer. Santa Rosa has a "don't cluck, don't tell" policy–chickens aren't permitted in residentially zoned areas, but there seems to be a lot of "not telling" going on because rumor has it that Santa Rosa has one of the largest backyard chicken populations in the North Bay. California Coops, which offers a variety of eye-catching coops made from recycled tin and redwood for the backyard chicken owner, says that Santa Rosa is one of their biggest markets. Pam Hartwell-Herrero is a Fairfax backyard chicken farmer. As the Executive Director of Sustainable Fairfax and newly elected Town Council member, Pam explains that Fairfax welcomes chickens–with wise restrictions. You must keep them twenty-five feet away from neighbors' windows or doors. They aren't allowed to enter creeks or standing water or go onto any other property. Roosters are subject to a noise ordinance and, frankly, they aren't necessary for hens to be good layers. Pam suggests that sharing your eggs with neighbors and avoiding rooster ownership goes a long way to soothe ruffled feathers. Pam and her daughter take their Ameraucana chickens to Sustainable Fairfax events. Pam recalls a young man remarking, "She's so soft. . . I've never touched a chicken before . . . thank you!" We discussed the fact that having a personal experience of the animals providing our food makes it difficult to eat an egg or chicken without considering its quality of life up until that point. Pam warned that "chicken love" is contagious and noted that at her daughter's school twelve out of fifty families have recently become backyard chicken farmers. On my way home from Pam's, I stopped to talk with Oscar Gamez, manager of Toby's Feedbarn (www.tobysfeedbarn.com) in Point Reyes Station. Oscar told me that there's been a huge increase in demand for chicks over the past three years. In May of 2009, Toby's hosted a backyard chicken workshop for almost 150 attendees with "chicksperts" discussing breeds, coop design and how to care for your flock, including the man that Oscar credits with being the best chicken expert he knows–JP Pellham of Western Farm Center in Santa Rosa (www.westernfarmcenter.com). JP is also known as the Chicken Dude and the Chick Magnet. Of course, the next day I headed out to meet the Chicken Dude. For the past eleven years JP has been the Western Farm Center's chicken expert. He spends his days answering questions and helping families select chickens. He also reports that there has been a huge surge recently in first time chicken owners. "We sold twice as many chicks in 2009 as we did in 2008 and may double our numbers again in 2010. Some Thursdays when my new hatchlings come in I'll sell 600 in less than five hours. During our Chick Days in March people were lined up outside the door before we got to work in the morning." JP explained that commercial poultry producers typically use Leghorns for eggs and Cornish-Rock hybrids for meat. For backyard chicken farmers, however, there are dozens of varieties to choose from–based on looks, temperament, egg color, size and hardiness. Some of the popular breeds right now are Buff Orpingtons (friendliest, with pinkish brown eggs), Ameraucana (blue eggs) and Cuckoo Marans (chocolate brown eggs). Western Farm Center also has an incubator on site for custom hatching. Recently a customer's favorite chicken died; she brought the last two eggs to JP hoping her rooster had done his job. Three weeks later JP delivered two healthy chicks to the grieving owner. During my visit with JP, I watched while he diplomatically helped a Mom explain to her little girls why they didn't want a rooster as he gently removed the chick that might grow into a crowing menace from the hand of a child already in love. In moments he had directed her to a better choice and she was smiling again. The Chicken Dude rocked! The backyard chicken boom has also increased demand for ready-made and custom housing options. Price vary from $189 for a mail order Chick-n-Hutch coop to $400 for a 3 to 5 hen coop that is locally built. Two of the great "Coop Dudes" are Mack Blankenship and Jason McLean. Mack was a contractor who had always raised chickens. After daughter Hayley and her boyfriend Tony Gozzarino asked him to make them a coop, friends wanted one too. In late 2008, with the contracting business in a slump, he started California Coops (www.californiacoops.com) with Tony and Hayley. They use all recycled redwood, tin for the rooftops and family members search thrift stores and salvage yards for one of a kind trim pieces and hardware. Jason McLean is a metal sculptor, woodworker and artist who grew up with chickens and has been creating high-end custom designs for coops and enclosures around Marin and Sonoma counties (jminmarshall3@yahoo.com). He mills his own wood from local sources and weaves in his powerful metal work and whimsical design features. His wife Shannon, also an artist, with the help of daughter Xenia, created their own block print stamps to customize the egg cartons for their backyard eggs in Marshall. On my last "chicken visit" I was driving near my son's old school and found myself humming his childhood chicken song. I was going to meet the Citroen family in Mill Valley, who keep laying hens as well as raising and selling chicks and teaching classes. Outside their home was a brightly painted "Chicks for Sale" sign–evocative of Marc Chagall and his beautiful paintings that often feature chickens. Mom Leslie, eleven-year-old son Luca and six-year-old daughter Logan have combined encyclopedic knowledge, economic theory, art and love in a way that takes backyard chicken farming to a whole new level. Upon arriving, Luca quickly escorts me into their home to see their newest hatchlings while Logan and Leslie crowd around. Within moments I knew how to tell what color eggs a chicken will lay by looking at her earlobes, why a Transylvanian Naked Neck chicken eats less protein and is a more efficient bird, and why the Buff Orpington is Luca's "signature" chicken. Their largest enterprise is raising hatchlings into young pullets (chickens under one year old) to sell to other backyard chicken farmers. Both Luca and Logan are actively involved in 4-H in Mill Valley and have a rare sense of confidence and maturity. In addition to raising and selling hatchlings, they help teach weekend classes for new chicken owners. The children talk about the level of responsibility that this enterprise requires–just recently they lost two grown hens to a raccoon because they had not properly put them away for the night. "We cried" Logan said, "but it makes us really pay attention to our responsibilities." Luca commented on learning to deal with death, "especially with hatchlings, some won't make it and you have to be able to accept that and do your best." I asked Luca what had surprised him about raising chickens, he answered "Chickens are really brave." Logan piped up, "They watch out for each other." My last image was of Luca and Logan standing together by their chicks for sale sign–smiling and watching out for each other and understanding that you have to be ready when the chickens come home to roost. The Citroens may be reached at leslie184@gmail.com. An extensive list of advice, contacts and recommended resources gathered while researching this story has been posted on the edible Marin and Wine Country website at www.ediblemarinandwinecountry.com. Copperfield's Books in Petaluma (www.copperfieldbooks.com) has a whole section devoted to backyard chickens–someone must be reading them! Robin Carpenter grew up in Ragg Swamp, Alabama, where she learned the finer points of storytelling and food in a land rich with tall tales and wellmarbled alligators. She now keeps an eye on the food chain from her home in Northern California. You can hear her at KWMR.org on the Monday morning Farm Report and keep up with her at www.huntandgathergirl.com.

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