Mad City Chickens - The Film

This has to be the year of the chicken in the city. Move over dogs and cats. You are about to be outshone.

From the filmmakers’ blog:
“In the spring of 2004, Madison, Wisconsin passed a law reflecting a growing trend in municipalities across the country. Single-family homes within the city limits were now able to raise chickens in their backyards. A year later, we started filming.

“From the underground to about town, chickens take the city by storm. Backyard poultry owners came out of hiding, and with them the chicken supporters came out of the woodwork. These beautiful birds are celebrated in art, music, and an ever-expanding community.

“Witness if you will Gallus Domesticus … the backyard chicken. A mere few pounds of feather, bone, and muscle; a creature regarded by many as a rather humorous, though not so intelligent agent of food production.

“And yet make note of a most singular phenomenon now taking shape across suburb and city. From backyard eggs to the family’s new favorite pet, the urban chicken is forging a fresh place in the pecking order of human importance.

“From leading chicken experts to urban newbies, experience the humor and heart of what’s becoming an international backyard chicken movement.”

See ‘Mad City Chickens’ web site for trailers and more information about the film.

See more city chickens in the news.

Urban Chickens:
Tales of Farming Eggs in an Urban Backyard in Redwood City, California. May You Be Flooded in Eggs, Too.

Backyard Chickens I (Farming in the City III)
Meet Bucky Buckaw - a backyard-chicken expert and Host of Bucky Buckaw’s Backyard Chicken Broadcast. Also meet Christoph Martens - a subversive backyard chickener who raises chickens within the city limits of Nelson, British Columbia. While City Bylaw #2333 prohibits the raising of poultry, Martens won’t let such an environmentally irresponsible bylaw get in the way of his path to greater self-sufficiency.

Hatching Plans for Urban Egg Producers