This backyard chicken coop, featured on this year’s CLUCK! tour, is at the top of the pecking order in the Southland neighborhood
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Being raised on the eastern seaboard in places between New York City and Washington, D.C., livestock is not something with which Penny Whitman was familiar growing up.
But looking at her interact with the fine flock of five heritage breed chickens she keeps in her backyard in the Southland neighborhood, you might think she was raised on a farm.
Whitman represents an ever-increasing trend among city dwellers, young and old, who are exhibiting more and more rustic and agrarian sensibilities. She said she first became interested in organic gardening, and it just seemed like a “natural progression to have chickens.”
But it was a fellow North Easterner who really convinced her to fly the coop. Susan Orlean, a celebrated author and staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, published an article a few years ago (titled “The It Bird,” it’s still a very popular read) about her foray into backyard chicken raising, and Whitman was smitten.
“It was so compelling, and for whatever reason, she went for it. So I did,” she said.
Whitman also thought the endeavor would be a good project for her and her son, Frank.
Jeremy Porter, a chicken expert with Seedleaf, a local food and sustainability organization, and organizer with CLUCK! (Cooperative of Lexington Urban Chicken Keepers) says this notion of families raising chickens together is what drives many people to put up coops in their backyards.
“I think for most it’s enjoyable to see an animal flourish under their care and given the proper nurturing and attention,” he said. “Plus, there’s food involved, and it can be beneficial for children to see that eggs can come from their chickens and not the grocery store.”
Whitman started, in 2009, with two light Brahma chickens, Colette (who is still in Whitman’s brood) and Cookie, which she purchased from a Cynthiana farmer she found online. The farmer gave Whitman a few suggestions: don’t start with chicks the first time; get a heritage breed on the verge of laying (the term to describe a hen almost to the point of being able to produce eggs).
Since then she has brought other heritage breeds into the fold: Marguerite, a Black Marans; Sabine, a Cochin; and Cloud and Cecile, two White Plymouth Rocks Whitman has raised since chicks.
Cecile and Cloud are the most comfortable with Whitman, a characteristic she says that probably has to do with them being raised since chicks, and will eat out of her hand, though the other birds aren’t very skittish either.
Among the many things Whitman enjoys about raising her chickens, one of the things she finds most interesting is their behavior, especially regarding the “pecking order.”
“When Cecile laid her first egg, she immediately rose to the top and just took that spot. She’s the last one into the coop at night,” Whitman said. “She walks the whole backyard to make sure everything is cool and then she gets in. Then she’s the first one out in the morning.
“They are amazing. They are so smart and systematic,” she added. “There’s a lot more going on in their heads than you would think.”
And, of course, she finds the egg production interesting, and delicious. Whitman says that between the five hens, she usually collects three to four eggs daily.
Whitman moved into her current home about two years ago, bringing her flock and coop to the new neighborhood. Instead of causing a ruckus with neighbors – some people assume chickens are noisy or unsanitary – Whitman says her hens quickly endeared her to nearby residents, especially the curious ones.
“It’s really connected me with all these neighbors,” she said, “introduced me to neighbors.”
CLUCK! Lexington Tour de Coops 2013
Whitman’s hens and coop, along with eight others throughout Lexington, will be open to the public during the third annual chicken coop tour presented by CLUCK! (Cooperative of Lexington Urban Chicken Keepers).
Along with showcasing local chicken keepers’ setups, the purpose of the tour, and the organization, is to promote responsible chicken keeping.
The coops chosen on this tour represent a variety of coops, from mail-order coops to DIY structures, and nearly two dozen different breeds of chickens.
The tour will take place from 1 - 4 p.m. May 26. Tickets cost $7 and are available at Alfalfa, Good Foods Coop and online at www.seedleaf.org. There will be a Q & A at Alfalfa at 4:30 p.m., and dinner at 5:30 p.m. ($10). Workshops on baby chicks, wing clipping, medicating chickens, and capturing chickens will also be presented.
Proceeds from the tour help facilitate the mission of CLUCK!, including free consultations through Seedleaf for those interested in starting a backyard coop.
Visit www.clucklex.org for more information, including a workshop schedule and map of coops on the tour.