Backyard chicken-raising trend’s hopping

Some chicken owners say the quality of the eggs is worth the work.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jodi Harris likes to get her food as locally as she can. She shops at a farmers market, has a garden and joined a community agriculture project for fresh produce. And for the last year, she’s been able to walk out to her Kennedy Heights backyard and gather freshly laid eggs from the three chickens she keeps there.

Kimberly Gelhaus wanted a family project that would involve her children and bring the origins of their food closer to home.

She and her family take care of three chickens that live in a coop made from an old swing set and chicken wire in their backyard. Gelhaus gets more eggs than her family can eat, and she enjoys surprising her children’s friends who come over and exclaim “Oh my gosh, is that ... a chicken?”

Harris, Gelhaus and other Greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky residents share in the growing interest around the country in keeping chickens. Elaine Belanger, the editor of Backyard Poultry Magazine, published in Wisconsin, said backyard chicken-raising is a trend motivated by people’s desire to have more control over what they eat.

“People don’t want the antibiotics, the hormones, or eggs from chickens kept in cages,” she said.

Rob O’Hara, owner of Mount Healthy Hatchery in Springfield Township, which sends day-old chicks around the country, said he’s noticed an increase in orders for fewer than 10 chicks over the past few years.

“I have 15 or 20 people from the local area come out and buy a small order of a few chicks [each week]. I think they mostly want them for pets,” he said.

Chickens can be pets, though not quite like a cat or dog. “When I get home, my chickens run out and stand with their wings back, waiting to be petted,” Gelhaus said.

“The best thing about my chickens is they make me laugh,” said Mary Ida Compton about her five chickens that she keeps on 1 1‚Ñ2 acres in Indian Hill. “There’s nothing funnier than a chicken running.”

For Mike Roman, the education director at Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale, who keeps chickens in Western Hills, the quality of the eggs make chickens worth keeping. “We really noticed at first how much better they tasted,” he said. Then their chickens were killed by predators, and they had to go back to grocery store eggs. “It was unbelievable, how tasteless they seemed in comparison,” he said.

When small farms dotted America’s countryside for decades, a significant portion of the population lived closely with chickens.

Think of how established they are in our language.

“There are so many expressions that have to do with chickens,” said Harris, as she described hers “coming home to roost” at night. “Mad as a wet hen,” “all cooped up,” “pecking order,” “for chicken feed,” “a hen party” and “running around like a chicken with its head cut off” still mean something, even though few people now spend much time with live chickens.

And as people are less familiar with chickens, they sometimes object to having them in the neighborhood. Cities around the country have debated municipal codes regarding the keeping of fowl.

Some cities, such as Bloomington, Ind., and Madison, Wis., have loosened their regulations after requests from chicken owners. Other cities have tightened up. Cincinnati’s code prohibits any livestock that emits bad odors or creates a nuisance. Each area municipality has its own rules. Usually, they stipulate no roosters. But you don’t need a rooster for eggs: Chickens produce them fine on their own.

Chickens can’t fly far, but they can fly over a fence and get in a neighbor’s yard if left to range freely.

“People are very particular about their landscaping,” said Mike Steele, the farm manager at Turner Farm in Indian Hill, who teaches a class on backyard chickens. “So you have to be considerate of your neighbors.”

Chickens need a place to roost at night, and to be safe from predators, so some kind of coop is essential. Coops can range from ingenious and homemade, using old dog runs or rabbit hutches to beautifully crafted A-frames to mail-order coops. At Gorman Farm, a variety of movable coops called chicken “tractors” are on display for inspiration.

Is raising chickens for their eggs a good way to save money on groceries?

“Definitely not,” said Compton, whose chickens live in a beautifully built coop with an electrified ramp to keep predators out at night.

She calls it the “chicken palace.” But Harris, whose chicken coop is made of recycled materials and bales of hay, comes out ahead. All the members of the chicken club get something back from their birds, including the opportunity to show other people a little something about where food comes from.

Said Gelhaus, “They definitely leave a lasting impression.”