Urban chicken movement hatching across country

Chickens no longer have to be in a Disney movie to escape from a country farm.

With the onset of organic and local food movements, more people are taking chickens into urban settings.

This may be the best way to make sure the meat entering your esophagus was never on a factory farm or exposed to hormones and antibiotics.

Garden writer Robin Wedewer provides eight reasons to consider backyard chickens. Here’s one everyone should take note of: “Eggs purchased in the grocery store can be days — even weeks — old,” Wedewer wrote. “As these eggs age, air seeps into the naturally porous eggshell, degrading not just the nutrition, but also the taste and affecting the consistency of the egg.”

A slew of Web sites are making it easier than ever to get started with an urban hen house.

Find tips for designing a city dwelling for chickens at www.urbanchickens.net. Here’s a guide to getting started at www.organicliving.com. And www.backyardchickens.com has information on how to care for chicks.

Of course, sometimes it takes more than skill and know-how to fit a successful chicken farm onto a small patch of grass. As USA Today reported, urban chicken enthusiasts have to crack local laws before they can crack an egg from their own backyard.

Cities such as Fort Collins, Colo., Bloomington, Ind., and Brainerd, Minn., have changed their rules in the last year to allow residents to raise chickens. If other cities hope to keep up with green eaters, they’re going to have to follow suit.

Taja Sevelle, founder of Urban Farming, a nonprofit that turns vacant lots into gardens, said this trend will only continue to grow.

“The actual phenomenon of urban farming is absolutely taking off even more,” she told the Associated Press. “People are worried about the environment, the rising cost of food. People feel safer about their food being grown closer to home.”