Fowl Friends Add Living Color to Gardens
This newsletter was originally sent on August 11, 2005 in conjunction with a piece I wrote for the New York Times.
Greetings once again,
Image The New Jersey State Fair runs through the second week of August and I must admit that I love visiting the farm animals and their caretakers as much as the horticultural event. My heart goes out to the nervous and excited kids and adults carefully tending and grooming their livestock, fowl and pets.
Birds of every feather fascinate me, and chickens are no exception. Some of those fancy chickens are stop-in-your-tracks, Marilyn Monroe gorgeous—and boy, do some of them know it!
What’s a fancy chicken, you ask? Please check out the article and pictures in this newsletter as well as my August 11, 2005 piece in the New York Times to learn more about these wonderful animals.
As a gardener, keeping chickens has several benefits: first of all, they eat ticks and other undesirable insects. Secondly, their manure makes fantastic compost material. But you can’t simply let a flock of chickens loose in the garden and forget about them; they need particular care, feeding and protection like every other domesticated animal; and if they are allowed to roam anywhere in the garden, they will undoubtedly peck at and eat some of your prized ornamentals.
If you are seriously considering adding chickens to your family and garden, call your local 4H Club or Extension office for the names of poultry experts in your area, or check the American Poultry Association’s web site for breeders and clubs.
Also, check out your own State Fair or local agricultural show to view some of these beauties in person. However, I do offer this warning: hold onto to your heart; you may lose it to some sweet, young, feathered thing!
Ken
Fowl Friends Add Living Color to the Garden
Ilove visiting the farm animals and their caretakers as much as the horticultural events a the New Jersey State Fair every summer. My heart goes out to the nervous and excited kids and adults carefully tending and grooming their livestock, fowl and pets.
Birds of every feather fascinate me, and chickens are no exception. Some of those fancy chickens are stop-in-your-tracks, Marilyn Monroe gorgeous—and boy, do some of them know it!
What’s a fancy chicken, you ask? Please check out the article and pictures in this newsletter as well as my August 11, 2005 piece in the New York Times to learn more about these wonderful animals.
As a gardener, keeping chickens has several benefits: first of all, they eat ticks and other undesirable insects. Secondly, their manure makes fantastic compost material. But you can’t simply let a flock of chickens loose in the garden and forget about them; they need particular care, feeding and protection like every other domesticated animal; and if they are allowed to roam anywhere in the garden, they will undoubtedly peck at and eat some of your prized ornamentals.
If you are seriously considering adding chickens to your family and garden, call your local 4H Club or Extension office for the names of poultry experts in your area, or check the American Poultry Association’s web site for breeders and clubs.
Also, check out your own State Fair or local agricultural show to view some of these beauties in person. However, I do offer this warning: hold onto to your heart; you may lose it to some sweet, young, feathered thing!
Gardeners are familiar with heirloom plants, such as the Brandywine tomato or the ancient tulip species, Tulipa acuminata, but did you know that there are heirloom breeds of livestock as well? Some farmers and “fanciers”—people who raise animals for the sheer enjoyment of doing so—are serious about preserving heirloom breeds of cattle, horses, pigs and fowl – old varieties not necessarily grown for production.
For thousands of people, in countries around the world, chickens have been and continue to be more than a source of food. “Fancy” chickens — birds with beautiful, unusual and curious coloring and/or anatomy — have been admired and bred for thousands of years. And just like gardeners, poultry enthusiasts gather together in clubs and societies to learn about and compare their birds.
The American Poultry Association, founded in 1873, continues to publish The American Standard of Perfection: A Complete Description of All Recognized Breeds and Varieties of Domestic Poultry. This is the bible for breeders, judges, and 4H kids intent on growing prize winning chickens. It elaborates on every minute detail of bird anatomy, coloring and plumage. And just like the Miss America pageant, “the bible” also instructs judges to award points for bird demeanor, posture and personality.
In my latest article for the New York Times, I wrote about a family in Northwest New Jersey who raise fancy chickens and their experience at the recent State Fair…and how I lost my heart to a sweet young hen.
The world of fancy chickens is full of colorful, even astonishing feathers—and personalities. Here are a just a few portraits of these amazing creatures:
One look at the striking black and white plumage of a Silver Sebright and it is clear why the first poultry-fanciers society centered on these birds. The Golden Sebright is equally stunning, with amber-gold feathers edged in black. Named after Sir John Sebright, the Englishman who spent thirty years breeding specialty chickens, Sebrights are a true bantam; that is, they are a small breed (one-quarter the weight and size of a normal chicken), and there is no large (called “standard”) version of the Sebrights.
image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc.
Another eye-catching breed is the Silkies. With fine, hair-like feathers gushing from the top of their heads and covering their entire body, including legs, these chickens look like they’ve just stepped out of the hair dresser’s— Phyllis Diller’s hair dresser. Known for their gentle nature, both roosters and hens are nurturing parents to their own or other chicks.
image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc
This French breed also sports a fluffy crest and has long been valued for its large eggs and high quality meat. Judges will look for the characteristic fifth toe on Houdans.
image copyright Watt Publishing Co.
Descendants of ancient fighting cocks, Old English games are considered a symbol of courage and strength. Though cock fighting has been banned in most countries, game birds, as they are called, are still bred for show. Noisy and feisty, the hens are not always good mothers. A very hardy breed, they have changed very little in shape or appearance for more than 1,000 years.
image copyright Watt Publishing Co.
This bird knows he is something special! Prized for their lustrous feathers, “cocky” personality and proud bearing, they are popular show birds as well as pets. Varieties of the Rose comb have appeared in every edition of the Standard of Perfection since its first publication in 1874.
image copyright Watt Publishing Co.
A large American breed from the 19th century, the Plymouth Rock remains one of our most popular chickens. Producing excellent eggs and meat, the breed is also highly valued for its temperament. Cocks are known to be docile and hens broody; that is, they sit on their nest of eggs almost full time.
image copyright Watt Publishing Co.
Another very large and gentle breed, the Brahmas originated in Asia and probably came into the US on trading ships. According to McMurray Hatchery, the gorgeous Buff Brahma is the newest variety in the U. S. and therefore a little difficult to find. I’m sure that will change very soon, given the exquisite markings on this impressive bird. A Bantam Buff Brahma took best in show at the 4-H competition at the New Jersey State Fair this year.
image copyright McMurray Hatchery, Inc.
Chickens in Cities and Towns
Image Seattle Tilth, a community organization that teaches organic gardening and sustainable urban living has been sponsoring a tour of Seattle chickenkeepers for ten years. “On average, 250 people take the tour,” said executive director Karen Luetjen www.seattletilth.org. “The City of Seattle allows up to three chickens,” she said, and those could be roosters or hens. It is best to be mindful, however, of neighbors: Roosters make noise.
“Most city codes will allow three hens even in a downtown setting, and suburban locations will often allow even more flexibility,” said Donna Ward who has a business importing fancy English chicken coops (like the one to the left), from wood and wire A-frames to mini-chalets at several thousand dollars. Her Woodinville, Washington company, Backyard Framing, has grown from a part time hobby to nearly a full-time job in only three years. The interest is growing, visits to her website increased by 30% this year.
Chickens do not need much room, and can easily be kept in neighborhoods where houses are close together. “You could keep them in an apartment,” said G.W. Winborn of Dallas.
The main complaint is the noise from the roosters, so some ordinances ban male birds. A very common question I heard people ask at the Fair was "do chickens need roosters to lay eggs?" The obvious answer, if you think about it, is no.
Mr. Winborn was shopping at a Dallas store called Green Living. When the owner discovered he kept chickens in the city, she asked him if he would give a little presentation at the store. To his surprise, fifty people showed up from towns as far as an hour and a half away. One suggested there be a way for city folk to share what they learn, and that’s how C.L.U.C.K (The Cooperative League of Urban Chicken Knowledge – www.thecluck.org) was formed.
“His wife told me it was the best things they’d done for their family,” said Mr. Winborn. “Their girls watch less television, and there is always debate as to who would gather eggs. It’s like Easter every day.”
Check out this web site, www.backyardfarming.com
I would like to thank Bud Wood of McMurray Hatchery, Inc. and Jim Watt of Watt Publishing for giving us permission to use the beautiful illustrations for this newsletter.
Watt Publishing has been publishing magazines and books relating to the poultry industry since 1917 and now offers Chinese and Spanish editions of their magazines. The original owner commissioned artists to paint portraits of beautiful and chickens. Lithograph reprints are available from both Watt Publishing and McMurray Hatchery.
Watt Publishing Co.
122 S. Wesley Ave.
Mt. Morris, IL 61054 USA
Tel: 815 734-4171
Fax: 815 734-4201
McMurray Hatchery is the world’s largest rare breed hatchery and has everything one needs for raising chickens.
McMurray Hatchery, Inc.
PO Box 458
Webster City, IA 50595
800 456-3280
Feather Site
The author of this web site describes it as “An
on-line zoological garden of domestic poultry, including photos, video
and information about various breeds of fowl, such as chickens, ducks,
geese, guinea fowl, peafowl, pigeons, and turkeys.”
http://feathersite.com
The American Poultry Association’s official site
http://amerpoultryassn.com
Tamara Staples book: The Fairest Fowl published by Chronicle Books
