What started as an organic craze that doubled the price of humanely raised chicken has exploded in recent years as a push for farm-to-table cuisine even in the heart of a major city. Now, it would seem that the idea of raising chickens in modern day New York City is being promote as idea for food sustainability, environmental benefits, food quality and education. But for some people, what started as a cool idea or a hobby and way to introduce fresh eggs into their diet, turned into a problem that was best dropped off at a nearby animal shelter.
“We had Rhode Island reds that produced an egg a day,” said Sean Foote 23, whose mom started raising chickens on their property outside Manchester, NH, “they were really tasty, we started with a small chicken cage, then finally upgraded to a coop. We had 15 chickens at the most, now we are down to six after dogs, fox, hawk, and fisher cat we suspect got after them. [My mom] has to let the chickens out daily o exercise, and we had to bring a heater in because it gets so cold.”
This doesn’t sound like the kind of effort New Yorkers are used to putting in for their food. It’s obvious why this trend hasn’t caught on big in our city while services like Menupages.com and Seamless have flourished. I understand why people would want to raise a chicken for the eggs, I admire how people took the challenge doing it in New York City, but I think some things should be left out of amateurs hands.