Category — Livestock

“Chickens are a symbol of urban nirvana, their coops backyard shrines to a locavore movement.”

By Michaeleen Doucleff
NPR
May 01, 2013

Excerpt:

When Julie Baker’s backyard birds started spending more time inside, it was tough to keep them clean. So she got innovative.

She sewed up a cloth diaper — chicken-sized, of course — added a few buttons and strapped it onto her little lady.

One thing led to another, and eventually, a business was born.

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“This charming coop is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to easily move their flock’s residence around to different locations in the yard. Just lift with the wheelbarrow-style handles, and roll it to a new site!”

The company sells some 90 varieties of chickens; the multitude of colors, feather patterns, statures, shapes and sizes of the birds is breathtaking.

By Marty Jerome
Entrepreneur
April 22, 2013

Excerpt:

Selling pet chickens by mail may sound like a business scheme that isn’t fully incubated, but for married couple Derek Sasaki and Traci Torres of Monroe, Conn., it has turned into a multimillion-dollar venture, My Pet Chicken (MPC). And why not? Chickens make antic companions–less needy than dogs, less judgmental than cats–and you’ll always have eggs for breakfast.

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Suzanne Scoville, 42, of Detroit, feeds her ducks watermelon. Scoville raises ducks in her backyard in Detroit. Photo by Jessica J. Trevino.

She’s selling fresh eggs to a local restaurant

By Jim Schaefer
Detroit Free Press Staff
Apr 21, 2013

Excerpt:

Detroit is an odd big city, with treasures and surprises and things that make you smile, shake your head or do a double take.

And that brings me to the small duck farm on Neff on the far east side, just a few blocks from Grosse Pointe.

Suzanne Scoville, 42, put in a mail order for a couple of hatchlings. Three years later, she’s selling fresh eggs to a local restaurant, her friends and whoever finds her on Facebook.

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Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is a city in the state of Kerala in southern India on the Malabar Coast.

Three ‘moos’ for a spirited idea

By Krishnadas Rajagopal
The Hindu
April 18, 2013

Excerpt:

Cows look up to him. So do some humans. At a time when rapid urbanisation is swallowing up living spaces, Gokul V. has found enough space in his car shed for six brawny members of the bovine population.

Located in the congested lanes criss-crossing along the ancient Tali Maha Shiva Temple where traditional Brahmin agraharams stand cheek-by-jowl with steel and concrete structures in lands once owned by the Zamorins, the 25-year-old’s dairy flourishes with two Holstein Friesian cows, three Jerseys, and their calves. The dairy also doubles up as a farm school recognised by the Animal Husbandry Department — the only one of its kind located within the urban limits of the city.

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Above: This spring marks the first anniversary of a city ordinance that lets residents keep chickens, goats and bees in their backyards. The relaxed homesteading rules have had a major impact on business at City Farmers Nursery in City Heights. Video by Brian Myers.

He visits the grocery story just once every three months, relying instead on the nursery for 98 percent of his food.

By Brian Myers
KPBS
April 17, 2013

Excerpt:

Bill Tall, whom neighborhood residents adoringly call “Farmer Bill,” said he’s seen an increase in sales as he’s adapted his business to fill a niche created by the new rules.

“Before the new changes in the ordinances, we had a lot of people that were interested in raising their own food, having their own chickens, bees, goats and stuff,” Tall said. “They would do it kind of stealth. They would come in and get a few baby chicks that we sold, but we didn’t sell feed and feeders and all. Now people are able to do it legally, with certain parameters. It’s really grown.”

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Bill Bezuk, owner of the Eugene Backyard Farmer in Oregon, has opened what he believes is the first chicken hotel in the country. Photo by Bill Bezuk.

When it comes to chickens the ‘cluck’ stops here

By Isolde Raftery
NBC News
April 11, 2013

Excerpt:

Chicken owners often take to urban farming blogs with this lament: Where to house the ladies when they leave town?

Bill Bezuk, owner of Eugene Backyard Farmer in Eugene, Ore., used to offer a chicken sitting service, but biking around town before and after work proved onerous, so he came up with another idea: a luxury chicken hotel.

Bezuk named it The Nest, and for now there are two suites next to Bezuk’s urban farming supply store: The Blue Andalusian and the Gold Campine. (The former is named for a rare breed with black or mottled feathers; the former is a haughty show chicken with a perky chest.)

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See urban faming network at minute eight of the video.

Tastes Like Cricket: Designing A Delicious, Insect-Based Food System

By Patrick James
Fastcoexist
Apr 9, 2013

Excerpt:

“If you roast wax worms, which are these little caterpillars that eat only honey,” says Aguirre-Bielschowski, “they taste pretty much like pistachios. Locusts, they’re very nutty, kind of like walnuts. Crickets are different, actually very meaty. So if you pan fry them, they taste a bit like sausages. And obviously I think the first time you try them, you associate them with a lot of things that are already familiar to you. But as you eat them more and more you start recognizing their own flavors.”

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Hastings Sunrise resident Duncan Martin with his backyard chickens and homemade coop. Photograph by Dan Toulgoet.

Keeping backyard chickens has not exploded as a trend since the bylaw allowing them passed in 2010

By Sandra Thomas
Courier
April 4, 2013

Excerpt:

Duncan Martin remembers the time last summer when one of his backyard chickens wandered off after he let the hens into the garden to eat unwanted slugs.

“A couple of weeks went by and I thought she was done for,” said Martin, a Hastings Sunrise resident. “But then another one disappeared and I started looking for her around the block and up and down the alley.”

Martin soon discovered the two hens had taken up residence down the block with an elderly man who was caring for them. Using his son as an interpreter, the man told Martin he used to raise pigeons so when the chickens showed up he started feeding them. Martin took the hens home, but now plans to help the man set up his own backyard chicken coop this summer.

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7 goats on their property in the Cully neighborhood of Portland

By Rebecca Gerendasy
Cooking Up a Story
Food.Farmer.Earth.
March 27, 2013

Excerpt:

Ed Arcement and his wife Nancy love cheese. Indeed, their mutual enthusiasm for this processed food is why, in 2005, they chose to attend a national goat show in Spokane, Washington. They found themselves suddenly bidding on a particular goat, and as Ed explains during the interview, the bidding kept going up, and Nancy kept matching it. Before they knew it, they had won the bid at (about) $1100. “Variety” their first goat, was theirs!

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Urban gardener Theresa Johnson tends to her plants at Hudson Park in Long Beach, Calif. Johnson has been gardening at the site since 1975. Photo by Jeff Gritchen.

“There are just so many more issues with dogs and cats than there are goats. We want parity, not prejudice.”

By Eric Bradley
Press-Telegram
March 20, 2013

Excerpt:

Updated rules on keeping chickens, goats and bees will go to the City Council following 16 months of discussions on expanding urban agriculture.

The changes, approved by the council’s Environmental Committee this week, lower space restrictions on keeping the permitted animals and in some cases ups the number that may be kept.

Currently, ordinances stipulate that the one goat allowed by law have a 100 foot separation area from people’s living quarters.

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Eggs of a female quail. By Soloshenko Irina.

They taste no different than chicken eggs, just about 1/5 the size.

By Gaye Levy
Backdoor Survival
March 5, 2013

Excerpt:

Back in September, I shared some information about raising livestock. Although it was a bit tongue in cheek, the serious part of it all was that if given the room, it would be wonderful to have a small flock of chickens that could provide fresh eggs for consumption. That plus chicken meat, of course.

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14 Original Designs with Step-by-Step Building Instructions

By Matthew Wolpe, Kevin McElroy
Storey Publishing
2012

Backyard chickens meet contemporary design! Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy give you 14 complete building plans for chicken coops that range from the purely functional to the outrageously fabulous. One has a water-capturing roof; one is a great example of mid-century modern architecture; and another has a built-in composting system.

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The ordinance increases the numbers and kinds of animals that are OK to keep in Eugene.

By KVAL News
Feb 13, 2013

EUGENE, Ore. – Old MacDonald can have a farm in E-U-G-E-N-E.

And on that farm he can have 6 chickens and 6 rabbits.

Or 3 bee hives and 3 mini-goats.

But he can’t have a chicken, a mini-pig and a bee hive.

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Photographs by Tamara Staples
Chronicle Books
Feb 6 2013

With backyard chicken keeping and urban farming at an all-time high, the proudest of purebred poultry take center stage once again in this fully revised and expanded edition of the classic The Fairest Fowl, now retitled The Magnificent Chicken. Updated in hardcover with even more chickens and an enlarged resource section, this celebration of the wonder, peculiarity, and magnificence of championship chickens showcases more than 40 astonishing breeds in glamorous photos—many brand new—and informative text, while an introduction by Ira Glass explores the finer points of poultry shows and chicken portraiture.

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Livestock in the Slum: A visit to an urban farm in Kenya

By Anders Kelto
PRI’s The World
Jan. 28, 2013
Anders Kelto is The World’s Africa Correspondent. He is based in Cape Town, South Africa, and reports on health and development issues. Prior to joining The World, he worked with NPR, the CBC, and National Geographic.

Excerpt:

Kahawa Soweto is a slum on the northeast edge of Nairobi, Kenya. Children chase each other down a narrow dirt road, passing women with water jugs.

It’s a densely packed area, and it’s not just people that live here.

“We have [chickens] here,” says Regina Wangari as she opens the door to a shack that she recently converted into a coop. “Outside we have almost 20 of them – here in the ghetto.”

Wangari lets the chickens roam freely around the slum, nibbling on bits of garbage and grass.

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St Werburghs City Farm is 34 years old

Two popular lion-haired rabbits have been returned to St Werburgh’s City Farm after they were stolen in a New Year’s Eve break-in. Vandals damaged animal pens, CCTV units and security lights at the Farm’s charity centre during the raid at 9.45pm. Following an appeal for information in The Post, police say they received an anonymous tip off from the community. The rabbits were then recovered from an address in Easton where the suspect was arrested.

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1940 Cartoon from Punch. An ‘animal’ helps the cause.

The purpose of these standards is to allow for increased opportunities for residential urban animal keeping and farming within the city limits, while encouraging compatibility within the urban environment.

City Council Public Hearing:
Tuesday January 22, 2013

The City of Eugene is considering changing some of the rules related to farm animals inside the city limits. The proposed changes to the land use code will help increase opportunities for urban farming in Eugene. These changes also support several goals outlined in city plans like Envision Eugene, the City’s Climate and Energy Action Plan and the City’s Food Security Scoping and Resource Plan. The aim is to increase the number of farm animals allowed in an urban setting and protect neighborhood livability.

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Oprah Winfrey shows off fresh eggs from her new chickens. Oprah’s Maui spread, located in Kula, was renovated by N.Y. designer Elissa “Ellie” Cullman to reflect contemporary American farmhouse style. See more of the house here.

‘I was feeding the chickens and she walked over to the fence and said, “Good morning.”

By Daily Mail
21 December 2012

Excerpt:

For a woman worth a reported $2.7 billion, Oprah Winfrey sure gets excited about eggs.

The 58-year-old talk show host gave her Twitter fans a glimpse of her idyllic life at her Hawaiian holiday home.

The media mogul is seen proudly displaying a basket full of fresh eggs from her newly acquired chickens.

‘Look what I just gathered. Chickens are workin’,’ she tweeted to her 15.2 million followers.

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Louis Polanco lives across the street from HausBar Farms, and complained to the city about odors coming from the farm. Dorsey Barger, owner of HausBar Farms, is a believer in the black soldier fly composting system that composts chicken parts. Dorsey Barger of HausBar Farms has about 100 chickens, 50 rabbits, two miniature donkeys and a goat on her urban farm. Photo by Jay Janner.

“To have a backyard garden and give eggs to your neighbor is one thing, but to process and sell chickens and rabbits for wholesale? That’s a full-fledged business in an improperly zoned area.”

By Ricardo Gandara
American-Statesman
Dec 16, 2012

Excerpt:

On her 2 acres in East Austin, Dorsey Barger, a self-professed fanatic about composting, recycling and reusing, lives what she calls an “idyllic” life, her own little version of making a difference in the world, she says.

Her sustainable practices of urban farming produce organic vegetables, fresh eggs and range-free chickens that are sold locally and served at Austin restaurants. Her farm-fresh food, very much a part of the grow local and sell local movement, gets to the dinner table on far less fuel than supermarket suppliers use.

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Two ‘goat lawn-maintenance’ proposals go head to head.

9th Ward goat farmer’s gripe: butting heads with powers that be

By Michael Patrick Welch
The Lens
December 12th, 2012

Excerpts:

David Young took first place, and $5,000, with his Fruity About Trees idea, which will transform two vacant lots into a citrus, banana and fig orchard.

The $2,000 third prize went to Cat Kochanski’s program called Develop Abundance, which will use hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic technologies to grow fish and produce for folks in need.

Goats of Progress won $3,000 to raise goats and make them available as an eco-friendly lot-maintenance service.

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