Jennifer Ron's five chickens in her backyard chicken coop waiting to lay their eggs.
Cluck, cluck! Urban chickens find cozy coops in North side backyards
Jennifer Ron's five chickens in her backyard chicken coop waiting to lay their eggs.
It’s a quiet, sunny morning in West Rogers Park, and Lulu the chicken is laying an egg. Waiting nearby is fellow hen, Pickles, who’ll assume her spot in the nesting box as soon as Lulu’s finished. Though there are three cozy, straw-covered areas for laying, one favorite box gets all the action.
Each day, Eggberta Peepers, Lulu, Pickles, Attila the Hen and Space Invader, who live in a chicken coop in Jennifer Ron’s backyard, lay five to six eggs, ranging in color from light blue, pink and light green to light and medium brown, depending on the chicken.
The taste of the eggs, said Ron, a Swedish Covenant Hospital ER physician, is as unusual as the colors.
“It’s a creamy, buttery-tasting yolk,” she said.
With two friends, Ron purchased the five hens and the wood and wire coop last May.
“The chicks were born May 10 and we got them on May 11 at the post office,” she said. “We opened the boxes and they were all peeping and cute.”
Urban chicken coops have become more popular in the past decade thanks to the sustainable food movement, which encourages consumers to eat locally grown, organic foods that are raised in a way that don’t harm the environment and are healthy for consumers, animals and workers.
Backyard chickens are an easy way to get fresh, organic eggs that aren’t produced in factory-farm conditions, where chickens are often packed into filthy cages and salmonella and other bacterial outbreaks are concerns.
“In the past few months I’ve been to 30 locations around the city helping people with coops,” said Oak Park-based urban chicken expert Jen Murtoff. “It’s a movement that’s definitely gaining ground.” The online Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts group has hundreds of members, and classes are available locally to would-be owners who want try their hand at raising chickens.
Ron’s main reason for getting the hens (roosters, which tend to crow and wake up the neighbors, often aren’t legal in backyard coops) was to show her 6-year-old son where his food comes from.
“They’re also pets for us,” she said. “They enjoy being held, they’re funny, and each has her own personality.”
While there aren’t any risks to owning chickens and no special certification or licenses are needed, Murtoff urges people to learn about chickens before starting a coop. Like any pet, they must be properly fed and sheltered and live in clean surroundings to avoid odors and disease.
“This (owning chickens in the city) is a privilege and if the city starts getting complaints about unruly or unhealthy chickens, we could lose our privileges,” Murtoff said.
Not everyone in Chicago is so keen on the idea though. In December, 2007, Alderman Lona Lane (18th Ward) introduced an ordinance that would have banned backyard chickens from the city. Lane said she was concerned about noise, disease and chickens attracting rats. Her ordinance didn't pass, however, when veterinary and public health experts confirmed that backyard chickens do not carry human diseases, according to Chicago’s Angelic Organic Learning Center.
So today, chickens are still welcome in Chicago. For Ron, they are not only welcome — she credits them for creating a sense of community among her neighbors and friends.
“We have a glass of wine around the coop; we share eggs, do cleanups together, and a neighbor comes by each day and feeds the chickens oatmeal and fresh water,” Ron said.
Besides providing food and making entertaining pets, eggs from free-range hens are more nutritious, according to a 2007 study which compared commercial eggs from confined hens to free range/pasture hens. Eggs from 14 free range flocks averaged one-third less cholesterol, one-quarter less saturated fat, two-thirds more vitamin A, two times more omega-3 fatty acids, three times more vitamin E, and seven times more beta carotene. And backyard chickens can be raised in much less crowded and healthier conditions than factory hens, which are often packed in stacked cages.
Experts recommend getting chicks in the spring so they’re hearty enough once winter hits. Though Ron said the hens aren’t fond of snow — she lets them out a few times daily to take dust baths and peck for insects in the backyard — they spent much of the winter in the outer, screened area of the coop, where layers of feathers protected them from arctic blasts. (Petroleum jelly can be applied to their combs in the winter to protect them from frostbite.)
They’re fairly easy to take care of and mainly need a steady supply of food and fresh water. Ron’s hens eat organic chicken feed and greens, along with oatmeal pancakes, low-salt cottage cheese and leftover bread for treats.
“We feed them once in the morning in the feeder, which supplies them all day long,” she said. “But they have visits from other people and get extra treats, too.”
The hens start laying eggs at 5 to 6 months old. Eggs are produced throughout the day and put in a box in Ron’s garage.
“They molt (lose feathers) a little bit in certain spots but they’ve been really healthy overall,” Ron says. “And they’re really entertaining. This is the best thing I’ve ever done !”
Resources for urban chicken owners:
Jen Murtoff, Home to Roost Urban Chicken Consultant
Angelic Organics Learning Center (Backyard Basic Chicken Care classes): (773) 288-5462
My Pet Chicken (to order chicks, coops and supplies)
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