Backyard Farm Fresh Eggs

The USDA Economic Research Service reported that in 2007 the per capita egg consumption in the US was 259. That’s like saying, on average, everyone in the US consumed 259 eggs in 2007. That’s actually down from a high of 380 per capita in 1950. If you imagine that 750,000 people, about the population of San Francisco, consumed 259 eggs per year, that would equal 194,250,000 eggs. If there are 365 days in a year, and we hope the hens get at least a month off they average laying 335 eggs per year, and that would mean you would need about 58,333 hens. If we imagined this population of 750,000 was made up of households with an average of 4 people each, then you would have 187,500 households. In our current food system, these people would typically drive to a store; to purchase eggs; layed by hens raised in undesirable conditions; dozens to hundreds of miles away; and even if they wanted things to be different, that just seemed like the way things were. But what if instead, those 58,333 hens were lovingly cared for by the 187,500 households? That would be just 3 hens per household!

Of course in a city full of apartments and condos, it’s unlikely San Francisco would adopt so idylic a scenario, but there is a growing interest in raising chickens and ducks in San Francisco and there have always been various forms of animal husbandry going on in San Francisco homes and lots. If you have the space to care for chickens or ducks and you enjoy eggs, there is little reason not to consider building a coop and sharing your space with a small flock. Tori recently welcomed 3 hens into her backyard that she shares with her neighbors. They have a fully enclosed ‘range’ about 5 ft by 14 ft, and a coop to protect and keep them warm at night that is about 3.5 ft by 2.5 ft. The aviary fencing is 1/2 inch wire mesh to prevent predators crafty hands from poking about. This unique coop we decided to make out of natural and reused materials where possible.

     
(L) The slip straw chicken coop with unfinished exterior. A chicken door locks up at night with two pins. Galvanized water and feed containers are easy to work with and last a long time. (R) Rear view of coop with lockable door for people access. A nice reclaimed double paned window for only $20 at Building Resources.
     
(L) Here are the girls, from L to R: Joni, Nina, and Frida. (R) The inside of the slip straw walls with a rough earth plaster interior. This roughly 4 inch thick wall with mostly straw provides lots of insulation for the hens, especially because they release a lot of heat through while breathing, so they’ll always be warm at night. The floor was made of two pieces of scrap plywood sandwiching a 2 x 2 frame and filled with straw for added floor insulation. The thermometer reads the interior temperature.
     

(L-R) Frida, our resident Plymouth Barred Rock; Joni, our hawkish looking Ameraucana; and Nina, our fiesty Silver Laced Wyandotte.
    

(L-R) Chicken security measures: fully enclosed chicken run with 1/2 inch aviary mesh, and a good lockable door for cleaning and gathering eggs. It’s nice to have a thermometer to check the temperature.