Just when you thought chicken diapers were the last word in urban approaches to livestock, (Notebook, Jan. 7) we bring word that there is, in fact, a chicken whisperer.
Andy Schneider, based in Alpharetta, Georgia, provides guidance to people interested in raising backyard poultry. He has been interviewed by most national U.S. media, so we may be among the last to hear about him.
While horse whisperers have an innate understanding of equines and dog whisperers are experts in canine/ human interaction, the chicken whisperer doesn’t emphasize any particular rapport with chickens.
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Perhaps there are limits to the “whispering” phenomenon and chickens are beyond it. After all, chickens aren’t exactly eggheads, to put it mildly. The eggs come from somewhere south of there.
No, Schneider helps people start backyard flocks and keep them healthy. Given burgeoning interest in the topic, it sounds like a pretty good gig. In fact, Schneider is now a spokesperson for the United States Department of Agriculture in the topic of disease prevention in backyard poultry operations.
This is of interest on the Prairies because more western Canadian cities are considering bylaws that would allow backyard chicken flocks. Potential spread of disease is one of the concerns, along with chicken welfare and other issues.
And about that welfare question, may we take a straw poll? Who among us did not pause upon hearing of Vancouver’s plans for a $20,000 chicken rescue centre? And who has any doubt it will be needed, once the shine comes off the egg, so to speak?
But we digress. It’s easy to understand the attraction of backyard chickens. People, rural and urban alike, are concerned about food safety and interested in food from local sources. Fresh eggs, rather than fresh chicken, are the attraction, and they don’t get any more local than your own backyard.
Yet we have to wonder if would-be egg producers have thought the whole thing through. If they have, more power to them.
If they haven’t, there are considerations of feed sources and expense, waste use or disposal, coop construction, predator control, disease prevention, care of the flock while on vacation and finally, slaughter, use or disposal of the chickens themselves.
If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. But it isn’t, and they shouldn’t.
See Barb’s blog at www.producer.com.
