“Unless the USDA or the FDA really cracks down on it, which I don’t see happening, I don’t see the backyard chicken phenomenon slowing down any time soon.” “I’ve heard people refer to ‘waiting for this fad to end,’ but I don’t think it will,” says Justin Van Kleeck, president of farm animal sanctuary Triangle Chance for All in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. But backyard eggs aren’t necessarily guilt-free-and shelters, rescues and sanctuaries shoulder the fallout when things go wrong. There's no denying that well-kept backyard chickens live better lives than factory-farmed hens. Advocates say that chickens eat kitchen scraps and pests and provide fertilizer from the other end, all while making possible backyard-to-table omelets. These days, groups around the country are pushing for city ordinances that allow backyard coops, arguing that the birds contribute to a sustainable lifestyle (an argument contested by some scientists and food experts). This pastoral fantasy-and perhaps the recession, which may have prompted people to form more self-reliant food networks à la World War II victory gardens-has fueled the emergence of a backyard chicken movement. If farmhouse style guru Joanna Gaines’ cult following and the explosion of Mason-jar Pinterest crafts, rustic furnishings and barn weddings are any indicator, we’re all just one burlap-covered pillow away from becoming free-range farmers. In contrast, a backyard chicken coop seems idyllic, the “de rigueur symbol of suburban simplicity,” according to The New York Times. It’s easy to see their point: Large-scale operations do confine chickens to cruelly small or crowded spaces, painfully cut off beak ends, drop live male chicks into high-speed grinders and gas hens once they’re past their laying prime. The philosophy that eating locally produced food is healthier and tastier, boosts the local economy, benefits the environment and supports small, free-range farms has led some to the logical conclusion that backyard chicken coops are a better alternative to factory farms. It’s the “locavores,” says Britton Clouse. Currently housing 65 birds, plus more in foster homes, Chicken Run recently moved to a publicly undisclosed location-partly to gain space for its growing flock of rescued birds, and partly to prevent people from dumping birds at the property. We were wondering if you guys could take them in.”īritton Clouse is the president and founder of Chicken Run Rescue in the Minneapolis-St. One is missing every claw, one is missing feet, and is missing feet and shanks. “Somehow they all got frostbitten when they were a couple months old. "We have three chickens,” reads the email, one of many that routinely land in Mary Britton Clouse’s inbox. The dark side of the coop For shelters and rescues taking in chickens, the quest for backyard eggs isn’t all it’s cracked up to beĪnimal Sheltering magazine Fall 2017 Photo by Meredith Lee/The HSUS
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