Last night we BBQed it up at a friends’ house in Mill Valley (a town whose name still brings BJ Honeycut from M*A*S*H to mind for reasons that escape me). Ernie was pretty excited to go–party? check; kids will be there? check; drive across the Golden Gate Bridge? check. Any one of those things is a pretty big draw to the lad, so the hat-trick was as much as he could handle. Until, that is, until he saw the chickens.
Our friends keep six chickens in their yard and the first hour of the party was spent by them being chased, caught, held, and petted by a gang of kids. At first everyone seemed happy. Then we asked the kids to at least not pick up the chickens any more. Then the chickens were returned to their coop. The kids, eyes gleaming, turned to the cat. At least that fight was fair (one kid got a big scratch to show him just how fair), and the cat eventually just sequestered herself under the house.
Along with burgers and sausages and lamb chops (oh my!), as well as my award-winning potato salad (well, it should win awards) and recipe-demand-inducing spicy sautéed corn, we enjoyed some egg salad crostini from the host, made from eggs from the very birds our children were torturing with love and attention. Man, eggs that fresh are awesome.
So my interest in getting chickens was re-ignited, and it has now met and combined with Ernie’s new absolute adoration of the creatures. I’m don’t know how much longer my dashing husband’s entirely reasonable stance of “absolutely not” can hold back the masses.
Anyone out there have chickens? Thoughts? Advice?
Marc Hedlund | 02-Sep-08 at 4:43 pm | Permalink
I think my “pro-urban-chicken and I vote” identity is well established at this point, but if you’d like to obsess about this topic some more, I highly recommend:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/
Most questions about chickens are answered there well and quickly.
And here are some coop pictures you might enjoy — the second of them in a SF backyard:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10592
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=82506
You could, though, be like me and just buy a pre-fab one; I would say you’d probably wind up, like me, modifying it a bit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/precipice/sets/72157604134870250/
If you want to get some chicks at this time of year, I’d recommend heading here:
http://www.mypetchicken.com/
Our Rhode Island Red is way too loud and I don’t recommend getting one. Our Barred Rock has learned to be loud from the Red but is apparently normally fairly quiet. Our Easter Egger is far and away my favorite and not coincidentally also the quietest. And she lays green eggs, which every kid who has met her thinks is purely magic. Buff Orpingtons are also supposed to be great, friendly, quiet backyard birds.
Lots more info here:
http://crittergeek.com/?p=185
(Clearly, I could go on and on and ON about this.)
Lisa Taggart | 03-Sep-08 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
Yes B.J. is from Mill Valley, California. I can confirm that absolutely as a longtime M*A*S*H fan and Marin native. Just in case you weren’t sure.