chicken enthusiasts
Linda Nellett, Jefferson Park
Linda lives in the Jefferson Park neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side where the current ordinances allow the keeping of hens, but not roosters. She has three Red Star hens and one Delaware hen.
Linda finds chickens to be quite clever at problem solving where food is involved. They are hardy, surviving very well through the Chicago winters. Linda has a prefabricated coop which she has set up inside a protective corral made of wood and wire mesh. This allows her hens room to move around while protecting them from predators.
One of the benefits of keeping chickens is fresh eggs. The presence of more than one chicken will quickly clarify the term “pecking order.” There is definitely a hierarchy among hens and the dominant one will have her pick of the best food and will therefore produce the best eggs.
Helen Standon, Oak Park
Helen Standen’s initial motivation to have chicken was for their manure to fertilize her gardens. Helen was ready to fight city hall for the right to keep chickens, but then learned that her town, Oak Park, Illinois, already allowed two fowl per household. Her two are of a breed called Isa Browns. Her hens are very social animals that usually move about together. Helen tries to let them roam free in the yard for some time every day. Though she worries about them damaging her plants, she experiences their pecking through the yard to be very peaceful.
Take a close look at them strutting about the yard and their appearance is almost reptilian: the lay of their short feathers, the blink of their eyes, the jerkiness of their movement can bring to mind images of their far distant snake or lizard cousins.