Free-Range, Apartment-Dwelling Chickens

Comments (0) By Michael Leaverton Wednesday, Feb 10 2010

More About

People raise chickens in the city for many reasons: hunger, companionship, mental illness, the desire to get nicknamed by the neighbors, the desire to impress Novella Carpenter. The biggest reason, however, is probably “because you can” — even legally. City codes allow residents to own up to four chickens, provided they’re kept 20 feet from any buildings. (Illegally, you can have your own Rock Island operation going on in a spare bedroom). But how do you start? Visiting Petco? Safeway’s dairy aisle? Strong-arming Carpenter on her book tour? How about while sitting at the shit-stained boots of the other most famous chicken farmer in the Bay Area, Alexis Koefoed, the grand dame of Vacaville’s lauded Soul Food Farm? She’s heading up two “Raising Chickens” workshops and can handle anything you throw at her, from questions about cost and where to find the best baby chicks to an order for 100 dozen eggs (provided it’s Alice Waters doing the asking on this last one — which it is, every week). We suggest signing up early: The New York Times recently called Koefoed a “starmer,” for “star farmer.” Really, it's trying to make that work.
Tue., Feb. 23, 6 & 7:30 p.m., 2010