edible Marin and Wine Country Summer 2010 : Page 50
Pam Hartwell-Herrero in her Fairfax backyard. size and hardiness. Some of the popular breeds right now are Buff Orpingtons (friendliest, with pinkish brown eggs), Amer- aucana (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 pow- erful 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 50 | EDIBLE MARIN & WINE COUNTRY SUMMER 2010 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 hatch- lings 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 back- yard 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 responsibil- ity 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 “Chick- ens 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 well- marbled 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. Photo: Robin Carpenter
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