urban chicken raising soars but with fancy fancy coops

[Liberal_in_LA]

I had chickens as a kid. They wouldn't have appreciated a chandelier. they were more into big juicy bugs


Poulet chalets

"Sales of baby chicks are up about 50 percent from a year ago," says John Bellandi, owner of Alamo Hay & Grain. Online searches are going gangbusters. According to Yahoo, searches for "chicken coops" are up 100 percent, while searches for "chicken coop plans" are up 225 percent (these numbers represent 30 days ending on April 19).


"Raising chickens doesn't really take much work," says K. Ruby Blume of Oakland's Institute of Urban Homesteading, which promotes self-sufficiency in a convenience-driven society and whose classes on raising backyard chickens are often sold out. "You'll need a cage, of course, and room for them to roam and to protect them from predators, such as raccoons; you'll need to lock them up at night." Otherwise the expenses are minimal; the chicks cost a couple of bucks; they mostly eat table scraps, and a 50-pound bag of chicken feed costs about $20.


But for four Bay Area urban farmers, no mere cage will do. They're housing their hens in style - gracing their coops with decorative touches such as a chandelier, custom roosts made from cherry branches, split-level interiors and glass windows to maximize natural light. And there's more to chickens than fresh eggs, they say. Chickens make great pets, all the while eating pests and fertilizing the yard.

pic of coop with chandelier at link


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/25/HOK91CMT9H.DTL#ixzz0m9cBP3xo