A chicken on every lot

Raising backyard chickens for food and fun was the highlight of a Contra Costa Times story published over the weekend that was based on a Point Reyes Station 4-H workshop held last week.

UC Cooperative Extension Marin County director Ellen Rilla told reporter Rob Rogers that the growing interest in chickens seems to be tied to enthusiasm for the "slow food" movement, which embraces traditional methods of producing food.

"I think a lot of people have become interested in local food production," Rilla was quoted. "People like to know where their food is coming from."

The chickens were said to be productive - each generating about an egg a day - plus easy to care for and entertaining. Workshop participants learned that feeding chickens oyster shells provides calcium for their own egg shells and that chicken's egg color can be judged by their earlobes. (Earlobes? I'm skeptical.)

Another bit of practical information came from workshop speaker John Pellham of Western Farm Center in Santa Rosa.

"My advice is don't name your chickens," the story quoted Pellham. "Things happen to them. It's hard, but that's part of nature."

I wish I had heard that word of warning before bringing home a chicken as a family pet (and for organic snail control.) "Amber" drowned in a neighbor's pool just a few weeks later.

4-H chicken project.

Read more