the adventures of chickens in New York City
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
2nd Graders at CS 57
a Day in the Garden
On Friday March 27th, the 2nd Graders in the After School Program spent an afternoon learning, working and playing at the Garden of Happiness. The students have been learning about gardening since the fall, working in the gardens, studying horticulture and livestock in the classroom and exploring the health effects of different diets.
The students have a special love and talent working with the chickens at the garden! The students have shown extreme care and understanding with the chickens, as the practice holding and feeding in the chickens. The students have also learned about the differences in raising hens using conventional or organic methods, exploring the outcomes in the eggs and the health of the chickens. In addition to learning about raising chickens, they have been learning about the benefits of keeping chickens in urban gardens.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Taqwa Community Farm Chickens in National Geographic Magazine
In New York City, senior gardener Abu Talib oversees the Taqwa Community Farm and its 13 chickens.
In 19th-century Manhattan, hogs roamed the streets and cattle grazed in public parks. Today, chickens are the urban livestock of choice, and not just in New York. City dwellers across the U.S. are adding hens to their yards and gardens, garnering fresh eggs, fertilizer, and community ties, with localities debating and updating their ordinances accordingly.
Urban chickens fell out of favor in the last century because of industrialization and other factors. In the 1990s, though, they enjoyed a renaissance in the local-food-loving Pacific Northwest. The current recession and farm-to-table movement have taken the trend further still. “Just get a few chickens and you can feed yourself,” says AbuTalib of the Bronx’s Taqwa Community Farm. “He who controls your breadbasket controls your destiny.”
—Winona Dimeo-Ediger
Photo: Ira BlockWelcome!
Welcome to City Squawkers! A blog about chickens, keeping chickens and all things squaky in New York City. Please join us in enjoying all the wonders of keeping chickens in this magical city.
Our friends on the Web
Urban Chickens in the Media
- Urban Chickens (National Geographic Magazine)
- Urban Agriculture: Raising Chickens in New York City (The Kitchen)
- Just Food City Chickens on WNYC
- Newsweek Covers the Craze for Urban Poultry Farming
- Pecking, but No Order, on Streets of East Harlem (NYT)
- A Chicken on Every Plot, a Coop in Every Backyard (NYT)
- the Bucky Buckaw Show
- The New Coop de Ville The craze for urban poultry farming. (Newsweek)