would be “(sic throughout) chaseing eacther around and terring the heck otta the back of eachothers heads its rediculous why are they doing this?” Chickens are moody, especially when they’re working to establish a pecking order. In the fall, my chickens charged at me while I worked in the back yard. Flapping their wings, they would peck my laptop, or perch on my knee, just staring. I think they wanted to knock me off of my roost on the backyard swing. 34
Missoula Independent
I see the tenor of the message board questions, many of us expressing complete ignorance about how to raise urban fowl, as a reflection of a growing trend that’s taking place in cosmopolitan communities across the nation. Portland, Ore., reportedly has the highest per capita chicken population in the country. New York allows them, as do Chicago and California. Framing the urban chicken as the poster child of the locally grown food movement has helped advocates to Homesteader 2013
successfully overturn poultry bans in South Portland, Maine, A n n A r b o r, M i c h . , a n d Bozeman. In Missoula, the city council voted 8-4 in 2007 to allow up to six hens per household in city limits. It’s easy to see why fowl are being moved into urban environments. They provide a means to raise healthy food close to home. Hens are also highly efficient trash compactors. Few things make them happier than snacking on bugs and wilting veggies. (Mine even
munched on coffee grounds.) And because chicken poop is rich in nitrogen, it makes for great fertilizer. Don’t apply the scat straight onto veggies, though. The heavy nitrogen concentration will harm your plants. A good way to turn chicken poop into a fertilizer is by collecting the bedding from their coop and throwing it in the compost bin. There is a downside to urban fowl, however, says Elaine Sehnert from Missoula Animal Control. “Sometimes