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Thursday, December 4, 2008

Portland Portland Roosters in the Atlantic

Posted by Alison Hallett on Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 1:16 PM

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Portland's urban chicken owners get something of a shout-out in the Atlantic this month, in an article entitled "A Cock Crows in Portland," about what happens when baby chickies grow up to be roosters. It's very difficult to tell the sex of a baby chicken, and roosters aren't allowed within city limits--so when a chick turns out to be a rooster, it leaves softy owners in the position of having to get rid of an animal they've come to regard as a pet. The piece, by Oregonian features writer Inara Verzemnieks, calls Portland a "chicken-friendly city," noting the popularity of Growing Garden's annual Tour de Coops. Apparently there's a feed store in Boring called Geren's Farm Supply, where people can bring unwanted livestock--"In recent years, city people have turned Geren's into a kind of relocation center for banished roosters," the article says--but there's no guarantee that your precious baby chicken won't end up as dinner. (The article centers around a rooster name Fizzle, and the voice in my head whispering "Eat him..." could not be silenced, but he ultimately found a good home on Craiglist.)

I know chickens are all the rage right now--where are all the urban beekeepers? I keep trying to convince homeowning friends to get bees, but everybody is too scared. Bees are so much cooler than chickens; they give you honey, and pollinate things. Sure, chickens poop out the occasional egg, but no one's calling them the most invaluable species.

 

Comments (5) RSS

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1
First a Pulitzer nomination, now this. I'm pleased to see Verzemnieks getting the success she deserves.

Her feature in the O about the Velveteria was out of sight...

http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregoniantest/2…
Posted by Matt Davis on December 4, 2008 at 1:30 PM · Report
2
I think bee keeping is WAY more expensive than chicken keeping. A baby chick costs a couple bucks, you can build a coop practically for free with salvaged wood, and the feed is relatively inexpensive ($25 for a 50lb bag, which will last you a couple months with three chickens). Beekeeping, however, has a lot more startup costs.
Posted by nickeyrobo on December 4, 2008 at 1:54 PM · Report
3
That's why I keep a traffic cone around the house. You're a lot less likely to miss the neck that way. Also, you can find presexed chicks here:
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/
Posted by martin on December 4, 2008 at 2:03 PM · Report
4
Martin: You can find presexed chicks a lot of places. However, most places, (McMurray included) only promise 90% accuracy on the sexing. In other words, if you order 3 chicks, you'll have about 1/3rds chance of one of them being a rooster. And the value of that promise on the sex is only worth the difference in price between the males and females on the 90%, i.e. if you try to buy 100 females and they give you 100 males, and you spent 3 months raising them by hand and then discovered that they all crow at the sun/moon/flashlights/neighbor's television, you can file a claim and you'll get a check for about $10, (while you are looking for a home for 100 roosters and trying to buy some new chicks that you can keep in the city limits.)
Posted by Matthew D on December 4, 2008 at 4:59 PM · Report
5
People are keeping bees in Portland, although I have no idea of the numbers. My mother just put in two hives at her place (St. Johns) this summer, with mentorship from two friends who have bees (in N. Portland and on the southern outskirts). She was worried that people in the ginormous new condos next door would be freaked out but on the contrary, they were psyched and supportive. We all know that urban beekeeping is a national thing (my mom is reading the blogs) -- maybe you should write an article on Portland urban beekeeping exposing it for the inexpensive, environmentally friendly, next big trendy thing? (Caveat and all due respect to nickeyrobo -- I don't actually know the cost comparison of hive vs. coop, so maybe I'm wrong, but I think you can get hive equipment fairly cheap, and sugar water is cheaper than grain -- and you don't have to put the bees away at night! My sense is that the best way to get a queen and hive is from other beekeepers who don't have room for their roaming queens - but really, I don't know shit and am basically talking out my ass -- but this is what my mom did). My mom goes to beekeeper meetings here in Portland and I know they are really eager for other members. No details to offer -- I just eat the sweet, sweet honey -- but anyway, some people are keeping bees in Portland, it can be done, and even your neighbors in big fat condos won't mind! (well, if you have good ones) Maybe someone will organize a hive tour sometime soon.
Posted by mary@ on December 4, 2008 at 7:51 PM · Report

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