Thursday, July 9, 2009

Urban Chicken Movement


It's come to this. The Local Food movement (those Farmers Markets!) gives way to mini-agriculture and gentlemen farmers. If it weren't for the current zoning laws restricting fowl of all kinds, we'd be seeing chickens, geese, and other domesticated types repopulating the suburbs. A local example is here. Many people are promoting the old suburban and semi-rural practice of domesticated fowl as local food supply, which also keeps garden pests at bay (note: snails and cockroaches!).

There's an organization that promotes this movement, however I fail to find anything about the specifics of wringing the thing's neck or plucking it for dinner. WHAT do you do with the feathers? Pillows use goosedown...

One from Newsweek.
And the Urban Chicken A local ordinance video is here on the WSJ channel.

Helpful McNuggets of advice are all over the net:
"If you are hatching your own chickens, about half of them will be roosters. They can't be kept together because they'll kill each other and harm the hens as well. Likewise, if your main reason for keeping chickens is for the eggs, remember that chickens can live 8-10 years but only have a productive life (one egg every 1.5 days) of about 2-3 years. It's not easy to find homes for roosters and unproductive chickens, and usually your only option is to sell them for meat. However, keeping older chickens is often an option. They don't eat quite as much, but still produce delicious eggs. The roosters make good chicken jerky if you're ambitious. Be aware that rooster meat is pretty tough and would rarely make something like fried chicken taste good."

One thing this all leaves out are those famous peacocks roaming Arcadia and various other parts of LA, Pasadena, Glendora and Palos Verdes that drive the residents to nefarious criminal activities to be rid them, or even thrash it out in local Planning Commission meetings. When the birds screech, it sounds like a cat being strangled, can't say I blame them. That's what feral cats are for, I suppose. Or perhaps a nice roast?