apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, I was just having this conversation with my husband! I really like the idea of having a couple chickens as egg layers to have our own, fresh supply. This would have to wait until we have plenty of yard, but...still. If NYC and LA can do it, why not Chicago? :)

I don't think any animal qualifies as a pet unless it curls up on your lap while you watch TV

My family has kept chickens for a long time, it all started when my sister purchased a small flock as pets/for eggs. We've had several different flocks throughout the years, and by far the sweetest were the little bitsy bantams - very lovely fluffly birds, who would sit in your lap, let you carry them around like little toy dogs, and they laid the cutest tiny eggs. Now that I have my own backyard, I'm looking into getting 3 or 4 to start my own flock! Chickens DO make great pets.

If you raise them from the moment they hatch, or even just get them as a hatchling, the grow pretty attached to you. I had a hen that would jump up on my knee whenever I sat on the bench in the backyard, and she would even roost in our lemon tree at night. This is in Orange County, but cats, possums and raccoons can be a real problem, they'll kill chickens. 8^(

Oh, yeah....don't get roosters.

Oddly enough, a large segment of the population of Los Angeles is not college-educated young professionals. In fact, many, many people have moved here from rural environments where chickens are not pets, but rather food. These people have brought those traditional practices with them, for good or for ill. Organic eggs are not their goal.

Drive around the parts of town that are east of the 5 and south of the 10, and you'd be amazed at what you see.

I wish chickens were legal here, I'd get them in a heartbeat!

Check out this New York Times article about a family raising chickens in a Manhattan apt: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/garden/17chickens.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=chicken manhattan pet&st=nyt&oref=slogin

A friend and previous neighbor had a few chickens in Portland. She always had good, fresh eggs. Plus, they were really entertaining to watch.

Several people have chickens in my neighborhood. Luckily, I grew up in a more rural area so I can tune out the roosters. But I know it drives some of my neighbors crazy. (Technically many city dwellers here are not allowed to have roosters because of the noise issue, but parts of my neighborhood are still zoned for agricultural use.)

Chickens are a plague. If they get loose, the breed like rabbits and can take over communities. They fly up into trees and crap everywhere. Just ask anyone who lives in old town Key West. They look quaint when you're touristing. but are such a nuisance that they have a full-time chicken catcher.

This is another case of uninformed pet keeping. Not every animal is intended to be kept as a pet in an urban environment. Chickens and their eggs are a food source.

I had a pet chicken as a child. Its name was Poulet (chicken in French). He got run over by a car before he reached adulthood.

"I had a pet chicken as a child. Its name was Poulet (chicken in French). He got run over by a car before he reached adulthood."

Why was he crossing the road? ;-P

I live in New York, and an old lady down the street was always sitting out in front of her brownstone with her pet chicken. She said she always had one, ever since she was a little kid. She wanted a kitten or puppy but her father owned a chicken farm and brought one home for her instead, and she had one ever since. It looked pretty happy. Friendlier than my cat, who refuses to even sit near me.

We had chickens when I was a kid. Vile, dirty and ill-tempered creatures, they. The novelty wears off and fast, believe me. I'm with Pretty Penny Designs, a pet is something that curls up on your lap to be affectionate. A chicken will crawl up on your lap to get a better shot at your eyes.

Chickens are messy and a lot of work, but unless they carry the Bird flu quiltmaster, I wouldn't say that they are a plague. I have a small flock and live in LA.

Eggs totally gross me out now (chickens have one hole, btw) but it's nice to have organic free range eggs. I'm not sure if my neighbors all hate me but the kids on the block like to come over and hang out with the chickens.

Just keep in mind that they will scratch and peck at your garden beds, the poop (although excellent fertilizer) attracts flies and smells bad and they molt 1 or 2x a year so feathers are everywhere and you have naked chickens.

Also, from experience I don't recommend hatching fertile eggs .... you don't always get a 50/50 ratio of hens to roosters.

I had a client in a small town in Appalachia who kept a pet Bantam rooster in her house. It never had been outside. She kept a kleenex in her pocket and "picked up" after him whenever and whereever he went. Believe it or not her house was clean as a whistle. The rooster was docile and would jump up in her lap when she sat down. Weirdest thing I ever saw.

"Eggs totally gross me out now (chickens have one hole, btw)" lol! the inside of an egg (the whites) is an incredibly sterile environment, there are multiple membranes covering it and its meant to protect a growing chick. There is nothing gross about it

I nominate this as the 'funniest-ass thread ever' on aptt.

AH! I want chickens like people want children! Unfortunately, I live in the AZ desert, and I refuse to have any kind of an outdoor pet in this evil, evil sunpit. But we're looking to move to Chicago next year and then it's all chicken all the time!!!

They're so useful! And have you SEEN them walk? It's ridiculous.
I love it.

our nextdoor neighbor in silver lake has a chicken coop right underneath our bedroom window...

right off sunset.

blargh.

My husband and I have thought about getting chickens (for the eggs), but don't feel like we could handle the upkeep of a coop, and poop, and food. Plus, we have two cats who probably terrorize them.

I grew up in Echo Park and my parents kept chickens (old hippies) and these days many of their young Latino neighbors do too. Actually, the truly awesome chicken-related thing was that occasionally at the top of the hill behind our house (there was a vacant lot there back in the day) you would find a black chicken, sacrificed. My mom always wondered who was doing their Vodoun or whatever back there... we were also confused because we thought you were supposed to eat the chicken after? I miss Echo Park...

"Eggs totally gross me out now (chickens have one hole, btw)"

Although chickens only have one hole, it essentially functions as two holes, so eggs come out clean and actually can't be contaminated by the chicken's digestive waste - there's an explanation here.

Plus, eggs and really tasty.

what you talking about i got 4 chickens 3 silk chickens and 13 chicks along with lots o ducks peacocks and my border collie