The following article was written by my favorite grass farmer, Alan Nation. Full credit goes to him. You can read more farm related information at Alan's blog.
Backyard Chicken Boom
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
According to The Economist magazine, backyard chickens are "having a moment" in the USA. Hatcheries that deliver chicks by mail have reported backlogs. Rob Ludlow, the owner of BackyardChickens.com, told the magazine that his forum has 35,000 members and have 100 new people sign up everyday. Currently, backyard chicken enthusiasts meet in at least two dozen cities, from Seattle to Tallahassee to discuss the how-to’s of small-scale poultry production. Recently, Austin, Texas, had 637 people go on its first Funky Chicken Coop Tour. Due to public pressure, many cities are relaxing their ordinances against backyard hens as long as no crowing roosters are included. Some cities that haven’t yet relaxed regulations are finding protesters on their City Hall steps wearing "I Love Chickens" T-shirts. The Economist credits this new interest in chicken raising to the poor economy. Currently, more Americans are growing gardens than anytime since World War II due to today’s economic pressures.
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