Who Wants to Raise City Chickens With Me?

Posted by Ed Levine, September 19, 2007 at 7:43 AM All right, all you city slickers. It's time to stop jabbering about local and sustainable food. After reading the New York Times story about urban chicken raising (I don't think raising three chickens on a fire escape qualifies as farming), it's time for all of us to put our money where our mouths are by eating eggs and even chicken we've raised in our apartments. How do we go about this seemingly insane task? Don't worry. We're not going to go it alone like Manny Howard seemed to have done in New York magazine. Plus, he's got a backyard. I have a back window with no ledge. We're going to get help from many sources. First things first. Find out if it's legal to raise chickens in your city. Amazingly enough, chickens are allowed in New York City, Oakland, San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. Apparently it is legal in most cities to raise hens but not roosters. Something about the infernal racket of roosters crowing. ...  more