We’re used to hearing that 60 is the new 40 and that gray is the new black. Could chickens be the new dog? Some people in Santa Cruz seem to think so. There’s a new trend in Santa Cruz—raising chickens for eggs in your own backyard. Way back in 2005, Scotts Valley Feed sold just a couple of hundred chickens. In 2009, they sold more than 3,000 to avid backyard farmers who want to raise chickens and harvest their eggs. After all, a happy chicken can produce as many as six eggs a day, meaning that just a few chickens can produce quite a bit of food for the truly cholesterol-starved. Especially popular are the heritage brands, which add color and flavor to the Food Inc.-style variety eggs we tend to find in the grocery.
The chickens being raised in Santa Cruz are mainly hens, since they don’t require a permit. Roosters, on the other hand, have a nasty habit of waking neighbors up, and do require special permits to maintain at home. Since chickens feast on scraps and bugs, they are relatively inexpensive to maintain too, though some aficionados prefer to buy organic scratch, which can come to $30 per month.
Chickens do offer variety as well, with many different breeds, some of which are critically endangered. People who study chickens also claim that they are highly intelligent animals, each with its own personality. Some studies even show that birds like chickens can design and use tools, communicate with something akin to language, pass knowledge on to the next generation, and even solve mathematical problems—hardly something you would expect to find in your bucket of KFC. This should put the recent news.html about animal cruelty at the Cal-Cruz hatchery into perspective.
And even if your favorite chicken dies, you can always have chicken soup to heal your aching soul. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
