It’s happening in many cities across the country — chicken chatter. There are already hundreds of communities that allow urban chickens (existing chicken laws can be found at www.thecitychicken.com) and many more that are currently going through the process of changing the laws that disallow them. From New York to Seattle, Los Angeles to Miami, Dallas to Minneapolis — small flocks of city chickens are finding happy homes in the middle of many city folks’ backyards — legally.

In this time of increasing food prices and recurrent food safety issues, it is becoming increasingly important to consider the capability we have to raise our own food. A backyard vegetable garden is wonderful. There’s nothing better than to be able to graze on your garden’s abundance as you enjoy your yard on a summer day. And to make those veggies grow bigger and better than anything you can buy, nothing beats some freshly composted chicken guano. Fertilizer from your chickens is all-natural and it’s free! Unfortunately, despite all of your efforts to grow fresh food for your family, gardens provide very limited protein and in our northern climate only provide produce of any kind about half the year. That’s where chickens come in.

Not only would a small flock of backyard hens provide you with the freshest, most local eggs you could get, but hens produce eggs year round (without the help of roosters). A small flock could provide you with enough eggs to stock your fridge with plenty left to share. Hens often produce eggs even during the coldest months of winter. Aside from some of the best eggs you will ever eat, urban chickens offer other benefits.

There’s a neat little device called a chicken tractor — a small, portable pen you can move around your yard and garden. Many use the tractors as a way to let the chickens safely roam the yard. Others use them as a home for the hens rather than a more permanent coop.

In addition to “mowing” the grass, chickens delight in finding and eating the things that plague many yards — insects and weeds. As they browse, their droppings fertilize your yard. I’ve even heard it has the amazing ability to kill out Creeping Charlie.

Also, with the advent of supermarkets and the move away from small farms and local food production, we are increasingly removed from the food that enters our kitchens. Even here in southern Minnesota, part of America’s heartland, children (and many adults) know little of where the food they eat actually comes from.

Most food travels hundreds, if not thousands, of miles before it finally lands on our plates. What an opportunity backyard chickens would be to reconnect with our food and give our children the experience to see firsthand where at least a portion of their food comes from.

Ownership of any animal comes with responsibilities — proper housing, noise abatement, waste disposal, odor control, containment/leash laws, etc. These issues are just as easily applied to chickens as they are to cats and dogs. There are already laws on the books that cover most of these areas — chickens just aren’t included. As with any property or animal ownership, rules of common courtesy apply — with or without laws governing it. Be responsible caretakers of your animals and be respectful of your neighbors. I don’t think the issue of a few chickens needs to divide our community. Just the opposite.

I think allowing families and individuals to have a few backyard hens could bring neighbors together and provide fresh local food for the community as a whole. My family may or may not want to have a small flock of our own if city ordinances change, but having the right to choose for ourselves would be nice.