Time to Feed the Chickens
Farm City Fresh Eggs
When I first heard it myself, I had a lot of questions. Where will they be? On roofs, in parking lots, in central park? But Just Food has embarked on The City Chicken Project that will promote folks to raise hens for their eggs right here in the city. According to their site, the initiative aims to:
Baby Chickens in the Big City
· promote best practices and the benefits of raising chickens in the city,
· teach people how to build coops that are structurally sound and healthy for hens,
· publicize relevant city regulations and codes, and
· support gardeners who are interested in setting-up or expanding egg production operations.
Readers, what would YOU think if your neighbors had chickens?
A) Its a cute and fuzzy way for children to live closer to animals and a healthy choice towards sustainability? (Chicken production facilities are pretty foul…no pun intended!)
B) This is not the farm and the volume of a hen at say, 6 AM does not excite me so much.
C) I am curious and want more info before I decide on such important matters.
The Green Queen Bee
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
I enjoyed reading your post and will pinch it for my new blog with a link back
I created www.MyUrbanFArm.com for the very urban type who are like me clueless but eager to get going on Growing it ourselves. I guess we are the second wave of adopters after the true greens.
I created it because I met a green deputy ( French assembly ) who bored the socks off me when I was really trying to get him to help figure things out : I realised a lot of true city dwelling, office going type have NO clue and cannot be thrown in the deep end of GYO and expected to adopt !
We need to be shown videos, sound bits and new designs that help us get on the way.
My blog is young but I think doing ok.
Love to showcase your thoughts too
Kind regards from London
Anne Robert
Chickens need clean air to stay healthy (and for their eggs to be free from toxins). Their water needs to be changed every single day so they don't get algae poisoning or salt poisoning. If they're overcrowded or bored they'll start pecking each other's feathers off. They need company. They get stressed out easily, especially in noisy environment.
I trust that Just Food has good intentions, and I also think that a chicken with its own pen in the City is likely to be happier than factory farmed chickens that get their beaks cut off and spend their lives a battery cages in the dark. That said, I really think this program should be carefully monitored and Just Food should take responsibility for the welfare of these animals for as long as the pens exist.
Those who feel better about buying "cage-free" and "free-range" eggs should still research and consider the living conditions those birds endure. Here is a good article, for starters: http://www.goveg.com/organic_eggs.asp