Feathered Garbage Disposals - Don't Throw it Out, Chicken Out!

The Chicken Revolution has been sweeping the nation and I have been on the front lines in Salem, Oregon attempting to get urban chickens legalized in our community.

Chickens are amazing creatures and many people around the nation have discovered the wonders, joys and benefits of having a few good hens in their backyards.

One of the most amazing things about urban chickens is that you will have very little food waste because chicken get excited about eating practically anything. My friends keep their chicken vegetarian and don't feet them meat scraps...but any other type of food is fair game.

As a matter-of-fact, family friends made pumpkin pies at Thanksgiving time and the sugar was a forgotten ingredient. They weren't platable to people, but the chickens... well, they had a pumpkin pie a day for four days! They were in chicken heaven! The pie wasn't wasted, it was recycled into eggs...and other stuff.

When you trim your veggies, the chickens will eat every scrap. When you get down to the last bit of cereal which turns to paste when you put milk on it, chickens come to the rescue.

Here is Salem, Oregon, they began a pilot program to recycle food scraps. If they would allow residents to have a few hens, we could recycle our food scraps in our own yards and produce our own homegrown eggs.

Chickens are feathered garbage disposals. They will eat anything left before them, including weeds, grass clippings, and any other vegetable or grain matter.

I look forward to the day when I can legally have feathered garbage disposals of my very own. It's hard for us in Salem, Oregon because our fellow citizens in Portland, Oregon, yes, the big city, can have chickens. With a permit, even a goat. Other communities that allow chickens in Oregon are Lake Oswego, Gresham, Corvallis, Independence, Cannon Beach, Eugene... the list is long... but Salem is not on it.

Barbara Palermo made a documentary called The Chicken Revolution and it is the story of how we have tried in Salem to legalize urban hens. It shows other Oregon cities that allow chickens and it talks to urban chicken keepers in other cities about the benefits they enjoy by having chickens. This evening in Salem, Oregon, at our Mid-Valley Film Festival, this film was shown at Northern Lights Theater and they had to bring in extra chairs and even turn people away because the turnout was so great. Our community is ready for chickens, in spite of what our mayor, Janet Taylor has said.

What other pet will eat your vegetable scraps (excluding my Schipperke which has a thing for carrots and cabbage) and turn them into eggs and great fertilizer for your garden? (Chickens beat my Schipperke on those two counts.)

For more information check out the great website: www.Chicken-Revolution.com and learn more about how having a few pet hens makes people more sustainable...and how the movement is being carried out around the country.