Growing up in a suburban space meant that most animals kept were of certain varieties: dogs, cats, guinea pigs (owned by family or by the third grade class), gerbils and hamsters, goldfish, parakeets, and, perhaps, indoor hermit crabs. For some, all of the the above. But chickens were only kept by one neighbor, an elderly couple, who kept their own yard as a long garden (no lawn here, not even in the front), and, at the top of a small hill behind it, kept a chicken coop. This yard seemed an anachronism already in the 1970s and has been long since converted into the usual over-stacked crowd of McMansions on a lot. At the time though, for a young child as a visitor, it was a glorious place to visit — a perfect combination of the novel (chickens in a backyard!) and the practical (eggs!).
The Washington Post recently offered coverage of the more recent trend, or return to a trend, of keeping chickens in urban and suburban spaces. See here for Adrian Higgins’ article as well as his own narration of a photo essay on the topic. A run-down of the local regulations for the greater DC area can be also found here for anyone who’s thinking of getting started… See also Henbogle for an excellent blog on hen-keeping and gardening, live from the great state of Maine.
Image credit: ilja
