Backwoods Presbyterian
Puritanboard Amanuensis
Residents of city crow about their chickens
Monday, September 01, 2008
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
That most rustic of sounds -- the reedy report of a rooster -- has come to the North Side with the National Aviary's recent addition of eight chickens.
The fowl are fresh to the menagerie but not to the urban scene. Although many people are shocked to learn the city allows chickens, urbanites raising chickens is a growing national trend. It has caught on among Pittsburgh's self-sufficient types, former farm kids and eat-local adherents.
No one knows how many backyard broods Pittsburgh has, but one inquiry brought eight quick responses for this story and a dozen reports of coop sightings, from several North Side neighborhoods to Oakland, Garfield, East Liberty and Highland Park. Animal Control supervisor Gerald Akrie said the ones he knows of are in southern neighborhoods.
"It's a whole underground movement," said Jody Noble, one of at least several people keeping chickens in Highland Park.
Another is Shelly Danko-Day, who said she plans to start a blog for Pittsburgh's scattered breeders, "to share information and find each other."
In one of the city's secluded niches, Susanne Meyer and Neil Stauffer's two Golden Comets live in a yard surrounded by woods in Garfield.
Ms. Noble's two Barred Rocks live in a coop as far away from her only neighbor as possible.
By contrast, Nicole Carlin's neighbors live within spitting distance of her two Rhode Island Reds, one Buff Orpington and one Barred Rock. They share an eight-foot run that her husband built in their back yard in East Liberty.
The majority of large cities allow chicken-keeping, with conditions. Detroit, Portland, Maine, and Washington, D.C., are among the few that don't. New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago all allow an unlimited number.
Interest in urban fowl has spawned numerous community projects.
One was a backyard chicken-coop tour in Seattle this year, sponsored by a sustainable gardening nonprofit group called Seattle Tilth.
Another was this year's City Chicken Project initiative by Just Food, a New York City urban-farming support organization. The project helped community organizations raise chickens for eggs for their neighborhoods.
Pittsburgh does not restrict chickens, but it does limit to five the number of animals -- dogs and cats included -- one household can have.
Mr. Akrie said it always comes down to complaints, "which are rare. They're mostly about the amount of defecation not cleaned up" and a few noisy roosters.
Zoning administrator Susan Tymoczko said people must get a variance to raise chickens on properties that are less than 5 acres or if their lots don't provide 200 feet between the coop and a boundary. Harvesting and dressing must be done in an enclosed building on a residential property, she said.
Ms. Carlin, whose hens have been together for a year, sold their rooster at auction to keep peace with neighbors, she said. "When he started to crow, I'd spritz him with a water bottle.
"We're a family of six with a small budget," she said. "We want to be creative and engage the kids. We have always been interested in the idea of taking a city lot and making it work for us, like people in old countries who use all their space.
"One of the fun things about having them is that neighbors bring their children over for a visit."
The chickens lay three to four eggs a day, but their production flags when the weather cools, she said.
"They're one of the easiest pets," said Ms. Danko-Day. "They don't require attention, they don't need to be petted or walked, but they're entertaining."
Scrappy is the protector of the harem of four white Leghorns she keeps in her back yard. If he starts dancing toward you sideways, watch out. His pecks have left little red pocks all over her legs.
Ms. Danko-Day became interested in chickens when she peep-sat about 20 for the Penn State Extension Service. She is the summer intern coordinator for Grow Pittsburgh, a nonprofit organization that promotes and supports urban farming efforts.
She and her husband get one egg a day from each hen and donate almost all their manure to Braddock's urban farm.
For a guest's entertainment, she calls, "Here chickens!" and sits on a patio chair with a bowl of cooked spaghetti. They scurry over from foraging and begin leaping at the noodles she dangles. It's a treat they love, but their daily diet is grain and vegetables from the garden.
Ms. Noble said she grew chard specifically for her chickens and gives them other vegetables that have rot or brown and yellow leaves.
Grain feed costs roughly $10 a month for five chickens, said Ms. Danko-Day, who is responsible for several people in her neighborhood raising chickens. In May, she gave three Leghorns to Maria Costa, who lives several blocks away.
"I had chickens when I was a little girl in Italy," said Ms. Costa.
The aviary ordered with two other parties to get the 25-peep minimum, which most suppliers require. Kelly Blais, the aviary's development assistant, wanted a few of her own, and she knew another person who could take the balance.
The aviary got bantams for its education program "and for general interest," said Steve Sarro, director of animal programs. "We thought having chickens would be cool, and they are great organic pest control. They eat weeds and insects." The eggs will be used in bird diets, he said.
Six white Silkies, two of them hens, and two Cochins were chosen for temperament. The Silkies, with long feathers that look like hair, have been on display in an outdoor enclosure for a week.
Ms. Blais is raising five Golden-Penciled Hamburgs in her yard in Spring Garden on the North Side.
They are her first chickens.
"My husband is an old country boy," she said. "His mother raises chickens in Connecticut. I wanted to bring a little bit of the country into the city."
The biggest challenge is the abundance of feces, which she said lose odor quickly. Her five create five to 10 pounds a week, which she keeps in a barrel she turns frequently.
Ms. Meyer and Mr. Stauffer's Golden Comets live in a pen called a tractor because it can be pulled around the yard to give the chickens fresh grass.
"Hi, girls," said Ms. Meyer one recent morning. Her two fowl responded with dainty, warbly clucks. They came from her parents' farm in Ohio last summer. She tossed a rotted tomato into their pen and they leapt at it.
"When we got this house and saw the extent of the lawn, it was a pretty quick brainstorm to get chickens," said Mr. Stauffer.
One thing all chicken-keepers in the city would love to know is "how many of us are out there," said Ms. Meyer.
"After your story runs," said her husband, "people will probably come out of the woodwork."
Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-1626.
First published on September 1, 2008 at 12:00 am
Wonder if I can talk the wife into it?
-- Make that, "Best of Providence to you!"
A couple of weeks ago the people across the street got a rooster for a pet. It has recently decided to run away from home and spend most of its time at our house! I don't know why--we don't feed it or anything. Well my two-year old did throw down some golden grahams in the driveway, and the rooster did eat them, but that was after he decided to live here!! Honest! Anyway, that thing crows constantly!! The other day we were trying to eat dinner, and the rooster was right outside our window, perched on a chair, crowing over and over! The twins (2yrs old) kept saying "Hush, boowdie! HUSH, boowdie!!!"
