Urban Chickens
What is the best way to get the freshest, organic eggs possible? Get a pet chicken. It’s true and the trend is gaining popularity so I thought I would check into the details. According to the city of Mountain View, residents can have up to 4 hens. Roosters are not allowed.
I met with Amberlin Wu this week because I had heard that she was our local chicken-expert. Although she denies being an expert, she certainly seemed to know all about urban chickens. Amberlin purchases fertile eggs and has them shipped to her home in Mountain View where she lovingly incubates them for 21 days until they hatch. Then she spends weeks socializing the birds. I’ve never seen such friendly chickens in my whole life and I grew-up on a ranch. These birds came right up to me in her backyard. They’re definitely considered pets. They have names and some of them come when they hear their name called.
You’ll need a predator-proof coop for your bird and the chicken will need to be put inside the coop each evening at sundown. Amberlin lets her hens wander around her backyard during the day. She keeps the baby chicks inside most of the time until they are 4-6 weeks old and ready to be adopted. This Friday Amberlin has about 15-20 eggs that are scheduled to hatch so baby chicks will be available in the near future.
Her hens were very quiet and I doubt that her neighbors even know that they exist. And the yard was clean and didn’t smell like chickens at all. The chickens improve the quality of the soil, keep the bugs down, and require very little care. They don’t try to get out of the yard or get-away from the property. These particular birds are very socialized and want to be with you. Marmalade, the reddish chicken in the photo, has been known to try to sneak in the house when the backdoor is open a crack… clever little chicken.
Here’s a link to Amberlin’s blog, HomeSchooledChickens, and on her blog she tells where to purchase chicks (other than from her), the names of local feed stores and other chicken related websites.
Chickens would be a great school project. Some local schools hatch the eggs but then don’t keep the baby chickens after they have hatched. Maybe having a small coop at school would be a nice way for a group of children to work together and learn about raising animals, getting organic eggs, fertilizing a garden and the responsibility of being a pet owner. Owning an urban chicken is a wonderful way to get the freshest eggs in the world and Mountain View is one of the Bay Area cities that makes it possible.
i love the chickens…if i had the room i would get some because the eggs are the very best when they are fresh.
great story heidi! i like my chickens to be homeschooled in the suburbs :)
those interested, there’s also a backyard chicken care class this sat. at full circle farm in sunnyvale (your neighbor): http://www.fullcirclesunnyvale.org/ unfortunately, i can’t make this!
We are direct neighbors to Amberlin. She had the chickens for almost two months before we learned she even had them. Once we knew about it, sometimes we hear them making happy chicken noises. We definitely aren’t bothered by them; in fact, we’re glad she has them. In a neighborhood full of cats that are often outdoors, they all seem to happily coexist, as well.
Here’s the scoop on having chickens in MV. Up to 4 hens without a permit can be kept. Keep them 25 ft. from residences. Within 25 ft. is OK with written consent from neighbors. No roosters. -from http://handcraftedcoops.com/urban-chickens-laws-and-ordinances
I love it! Go Mountain View! Talk about the freshest organic eggs! I love chickens….lots of personality and they keep the pests down too! Awesome story, thanks!
I don’t have any photos of roosters since they aren’t allowed in the city limits. The person that I interviewed about her chickens only has hens and babies. (Rooster are noisy and would wake up the neighbors!) I loved meeting the hens and the baby chicks.
Will you be posting a pic of a Rooster. My friend just mentioned, “where is the rooster?” : )