Urban Chicken Owners Needed for NY Times Article!

[pricey]

Hi --

I'm trying to get in touch with chicken keepers in the Oakland/Berkeley/SF area (and other cities around the country) to talk about the world of urban poultry for an article I'm working on for the New York Times. I'm particularly interested in:

-meeting very enthusiastic urban chicken keepers with urban flocks (in the Oakland/Berkeley/SF area) who might be interested in showing me around (I'm looking for people who keep chickens either for eggs or meat -- not just as pets)
-learning about chicken city laws -- i.e. what are some surprising US cities where you're allowed to keep chickens? What are the specific chicken laws in SF/Oakland/Berkeley? How many can you keep? Can you have roosters, etc?
-learning about any specific conflicts that there have been between chicken keepers and police/neighbors, etc.
-any other resources you think would be good to consult (or people to talk to)

While I'm focusing my first-hand reporting in the Oakland/SF/Berkeley area, I definitely am interested in hearing colorful anecdotes from chicken keepers in other big US cities -- so feel free to contact me about those as well.

If you're interested in helping me out, feel free to comment on this discussion board or email me at the address below.

I'm trying to get as much reporting done as I can by the end of this week (May 18th) and am aiming to finish it by the 25th.

Thanks!
Catherine
(email me at pricey at g mail dot com)

 

[bigzio]

Catherine, go to www.madcitychckens.com for some input from the city of Madison, Wi good luck.

bigzio

 

[pricey]

Thanks for the tip -- I've heard of the madcitychickens folks, and they do indeed sound like a great source.

Anyone else out there have any suggestions/personal anecdotes? (Please don't be shy!) I'm interested in speaking to all sorts of chicken keepers and would love to hear from you. (Thanks to everyone who's emailed me so far.)

I'm especially interested in meeting some chicken keepers in SF -- anyone know anyone?