Fowl Outlaws

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Where I grew up, down South, chickens are a nasty business. They’re also big business. You don’t have to know all the gruesome details to understand that chicken farms don’t belong in town. They’re noisy, smelly, and dirty. That’s why we keep them in the country.

Lucy Silverio didn’t have a farm. She had a flock—seven chickens, to be exact. For ten years they lived peaceably in her backyard, providing her family with fresh eggs. Her approach to raising them is reflected in the title of a class she taught last year on backyard chickens—“The Beauty of Chickens.”

But this April, the city ordered her to get rid of the birds within ten days or face ninety days in jail and up to a $500 fine.

With this action, Chelsea is bucking a nationwide trend. Cities all over the country are changing zoning codes so residents can raise “city chickens.” New York City, Los Angeles, Madison, and Seattle are among the places that now allow backyard flocks.

The chicken craze is at least partly a sign of the tough economy, something like the victory gardens Americans grew during other hard times and during the two world wars. It also reflects the increase in healthier, locally grown food.