Need a history lesson; when did keeping chickens become unpopular?

[donnavee]

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Welcome from another North Carolinian - we live in Cedar Grove, about an hour west of Raleigh - used to drive there 5 dys a wk before we retired.

My grandparents raised a good sized backyard flock for meat and eggs through the 60's. I lived with them and we rarely went to the grocery store since we grew most of our food. At the time, I couldn't wait to move to the "city" and buy all that pretty food from the grocery store. Fast forward to 2011 and I'm raising chickens and as many veggies as I can tuck into my small garden.

Good luck with your presentation. I also find it funny that it's considered perfectly legal and normal to have dogs as large as a small horse, but people look at you funny when you mention raising chickens. I love the fact that my pets provide me with yummy eggs, great fertilizer and endless entertainment.

I thought I remembered seeing that chickens are legal in downtown Raleigh's Historic Oakwood?

 

[EweSheep]

Because we are so used to convience and don't want to do the labor or the old standby--they smelled.

MICKNWrangler, that is what my grandparents did after they got rid of the chickens. They would ask one of the sons to go west of town to get a chicken from an egg farmer who usually kept a ready supply of "spent" hens for that purpose. They would go and pick a hen, bring it home, alive (farmer would charge extra to dispatch and clean), Grandpa would do the messy work and Grandma would cut it up and fry it up for their Sunday dinners. I do not know HOW they made a meal of eight kids and two adults with ONE chicken....I know they did load up on potatoes, veggies, rolls and all the trimmings. I will have to ask my Dad how many chickens did they take home for Sunday dinners. They were not Cornish crosses either.

 

[Adventurefamily5]

Hi, donnavee! We just moved to Raleigh in June 2010. I am pretty sure that chickens are allowed in Oakwood. We live up north near the Falls Lake and the dam. We love our neighborhood and chose it because I wanted to have some chickens and my hubby wanted suburbia. He has since built our coop, which you can see on my website, and now says he wants to move out into the country! But, since we just bought, that won't be happening.

Some of the folks on the board are old men, so maybe they remember when...

 

[Fred's Hens]

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Actually, until after WWII, there were no grocery stores, as you would recognize them now.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Before the 1920s, the vast majority of Americans either lived in the country on farms, where they had chickens, or they lived in town and cities where, even if you look today, in the really old parts of town, the lots were often huge. Look way out back, in the alley, and you'll see some horse barns/carriage houses. That is fairly recent American history in the big scheme of things. Thus, a few chickens here and there in the small towns of America was no big, no big deal at all. No one was too likely to complain, as it was an accepted part of life.

Following WWII, the GIs came home and the birth of suburban America was born. Lots were oft times very small as housing developers were cranking out housing as fast as the could to meet the booming demand. The baby boomers were being born and grade schools swelled to unprecedented numbers. Times were a changing. Keeping chickens in the "cities" was now considered socially crude and absurdly unnecessary.

 

[EweSheep]

Do you think 9/11 contributes the change of people having chickens into the city? I would like to think so but sometime between Bush Jr and Obama, it really took off and the demands are so heavy that the hatcheries have a hard time keeping up with the orders despite of what mother nature throws a curve at them.

Or was it Martha Stewart started this whole thing?

 

[donnavee]

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Yeah, I can picture where you live. Very nice and what a beautiful little coop. Don't see how anyone can complain about it at all - good luck!

 

[pontoosuc]

My Dad is 84 and he remembers his Mom and Dad getting chickens during the depression for eggs.
He doesn't remember any processing, but he also doesn't remember having chickens before the
depression either. Western MA

 

[Tala]

Fred's Hens :

Before the 1920s, the vast majority of Americans either lived in the country on farms, where they had chickens, or they lived in town and cities where, even if you look today, in the really old parts of town, the lots were often huge. Look way out back, in the alley, and you'll see some horse barns/carriage houses. That is fairly recent American history in the big scheme of things. Thus, a few chickens here and there in the small towns of America was no big, no big deal at all. No one was too likely to complain, as it was an accepted part of life.

Yes this. We moved to a rather old subdivision, and viola! Not only was a 50 year old house smaller than they build nowadays, but also cheaper, and it came with 3 "lots" or what would be considered a lot nowadays....I couldn't imagine anything smaller. There are lots of houses in town that still have 8-10 acres, and just outside the city limits 20+ acres is the norm, but you won't find any of that in the NEW subdivisions. Mom always said that in the new places you could reach out your bathroom window and share toothpaste with your neighbor

That lifestyle is NOT for me!!​

 

[michickenwrangler]

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Part of it is Martha Stewart ... evil, evil woman!

(now why can't I be as rich and perfect as she is with an army to do my every bidding and a cult formed around my bland perfection?)

Part of it is the economy, but I think a lot of people are realizing what cr@p processed food is.

Again, going back to the older generation. Aside from infectious disease, childbirth or accident, those that survived lived a long time with most of their mental functions. Out of my 8 great grandparents, 7 lived past 85 and the one that died young had his aorta burst on him when he was 49. All of them were raised on butter and lard, meat, dairy and veggies and a bit of bread.

But, many people want to have control over their food again. Between my neighbor and myself, we get 8 dozen eggs a week and that's 6 other families we're providing with good eggs. People love our eggs and I've even had customers tell me how glad they are that my hens aren't tortured. Even people who don't want the hassle of raising chickens want humanely raised eggs.

American consumers are becoming more educated and in this, are taking a more active role in their food.