City Chicken, Country Chicken
Chickens aren’t just country-dwellers anymore, over the last several years, more and more chickens have been seen moving into cities and urban areas across the country.
By our count, 4 of the top 5 U.S. Metropolitan markets have revised their ordinances to allow backyard chickens. Additionally, 32 of the top 50 U.S. Metro markets allow backyard chickens, most others have active pro-chicken lobby groups.
The recent increase in urban gardening and backyard chickens can (in part) be attributed to greater interest in:
- Elevating Personal Food IQ
- Better Nutrition and Health
- Better Taste
- Stronger Community Economies
- Greater Sustainability
Many of these are also cited by the Wallace Center in their report about why food is localizing.
Do you want chickens in your city and you’re not sure how or where to start? Here’s a great resource for getting up to speed on chicken ordinance issues.
You can also find links to a bunch of municipal and regional chicken groups in the Resources section of Eggzy.net.
Thanks for these resources. Will tweet and pass on. Lots of changes like you mentioned in the Atlanta area around here, but unfortunately, some areas refuse to consider change. One (Roswell, GA) arrested a chicken owner recently who, granted, did go over the line with too many chickens. Onward to knowing where your food comes from! Thanks for all you do!
Thanks for the support Veggie Val! Also just saw this report from CBS Atlanta http://bit.ly/qAiY1z