The Abandoned
Urban Chicken Problem...
And My Solution

Dateline: 9 July 2013


They probably got sick and tired of changing the diapers (picture/article link)

I received an e-mail from a reporter at The Daily Caller yesterday asking for my thoughts concerning the problem of abandoned chickens in urban areas, as reported in This Article.

I replied to the query, and my solution to this problem made it into today's article at The Daily Caller. Here's the link: Urban Chickens Increasingly Abandoned by Hipster Owners.

My solution is, I think, pretty obvious to any "rural blogger" such as  myself. And the whole matter is actually kind of comical.


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My only gripe with the article is the comment that "A nationwide salmonella outbreak in 2012 was spread in part by chickens raised in backyard coops."  I don't believe that at all.


7 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Most city-slickers would not eat anything they've looked in the eye. They'd rather eat factory-farmed chicken and complain about it.

Granny Miller said...

What a hoot! I'm stunned & amazed.

foutfolk said...

Got the book today. Thanks. Thumbed through it, mostly looking at the pictures (as an artist I ALWAYS do that first)and thought the stick girl looking at the chicken is probably my favorite thus far! :)

Deelight said...

As a by-necessity townie with my own blessed little flock, am thankful that more people are doing what they can with what they have, where they are. That said, there will always be a percentage of people who follow trends without having thought things through. Sad for the chickens and other critters who bear the brunt of this ignorance.

Herrick Kimball said...

foutfolk,

That's funny. I put an absurd amount of time into drawing the "stick family" looking at their tomato tree.

As someone who has no artistic training, the drawings were the hardest and most discouraging part of the book for me. I'm not entirely satisfied with many of them, like the milk can on page 109 and Mr. Bunny Rabbit on page 83. But my favorite is the toad next to the Charles Dudley Warner quote on page 68.

Thanks for the comment, though a little off topic for this post. :-)

Cyndi Lewis said...

We did our part. We purchased six hens and two roosters off craigslist this spring. We paid $45 for all of them. The sellers said, "We didn't have a good experience with them." We have gotten fertilizer, eggs,
entertainment and experience from these chickens and soon we will have some coq au vin meals too. They didn't come without issues as I don't believe the previous owners managed them properly but I think we got a good deal. I don't recommend purchasing "used" chickens just for egg production though. We plan on butchering the roosters this weekend. For a bargain price or free I would totally take chickens off someone else's hands.

foutfolk said...

Staying off topic . . . I completely enjoy people who SAY they have no artistic talent, and yet draw anyway. Much like you. There is always a fresh approach to the subject they are drawing and the drawings generally have a whimsical aspect that I can not seem to get in my artwork. It is like I try to be untrained, yet conform to the need for it to be "right." Which at time is sterol. And I think that the way teachers train artists convinces them that they are not, rather than ARE something. You definitely ARE something. And I am happy with all the drawings in your book. They are a hoot! And the string trellis pins have inspired me to be more creative in my "garden sculpture" pieces.