Chickens For The White House Garden?

After the warm reception to the new White House kitchen garden, you'd think that the Obamas would be left alone on the locavore front, wouldn't you?

If so, you wouldn't be Bill Niman and Nicolette Hahn Niman, who ask when the White House will get its own flock of chickens:

The idea may sound far fetched, but is it, really? At the dawn of the 20th century, chickens were literally everywhere. Census figures show that 88 percent of farms had chicken flocks. Even in urban areas, there was a chicken for every two people (You can find the full citations for these numbers on page 40 of my book, Righteous Porkchop: Finding a Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms).

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Comments

[Kungfublood]

chickens which eat good bugs as well as bad and like to dig up roots while at it would likely be more harm than good.

[sidehide]

hahahaha

idiotic....

Quick to the moronic mobile! we have to save the roots and the "good" bugs!

while at it! lol

[FloridaJudy]

My son had a pet chicken for years, until a stray dog killed it. His own dogs never bothered her, and I doubt strays are a serious problem at the White House, so Sasha and Malia shouldn't be traumatized if the Obamas decide to add a few to the organic garden. My grandmother kept ducks, and they were excellent at eating up garden pests. Those chickens would earn their keep.

As my son put it, he had the only pet on the block that gave him fresh eggs. There's a small breed of chicken that lays pastel eggs that would be perfect. Now if the White House chef decided he/she needed to raise some ham to go with those green eggs, there I'd draw the line!

[MissElaineous]

What are the zoning laws in DC? Some cities do not allow chickens. I live in a town where folks can have chickens. The more considerate people keep the roosters inside until its time to go to work. Others have them crowing the second the sun goes up. (Some folks don't realize you don't need roosters for hens to lay, fyi.)

If DC allows chickens, that'd be pretty nice. Otherwise, they should stick with local zoning.

[janeinmia]

Umm, doesn't a flock of chickens mean an eventual excess . . . and then a White (slaughter) House??? I don't think so. Stick with the veggies.

[peithecelt]

If you don't want your chickens to make babies and create an excess - then don't give them access to a rooster. It's a pretty easy thing to control actually.

(and yes, they will still lay eggs if there is no rooster)

[janeinmia]

oh yes, you're quite right -- so I'll change my advice to stick with the hens.

[WorkingClass]

Works for me. Cant wait to see the first chicken.

[Tamoomoo]

At least they'll know where their food comes from. I think Mrs. Obama wants her daughters to eat cleanly, so I think it's a great idea. I would do it myself if I weren't so allergic to feathers. I bet the chickens would be fed well, and not laden with hormones like the ones you get at the store. So any eggs or meat would be at their optimum.

[WmC]

In Key West, chickens (and roosters) roam freely through the streets. There are obviously some very fierce chicken advocates who want to keep it that way. (There are lawn signs and bumper stickers that remain as evidence of a campaign.

[TheBlackCat]

I thought that was hilarious when I was down there, all those chickens all over the place! Way more adorable than cockroaches.

[fiestyslug]

Look at the beautiful chickens Martha Stewart raises. Our family is in the process of preparing a coop and I can hardly wait. Chickens are also great at eating the bad bugs that might mess with an organic garden.

[Caliwoman]

We have six baby chicks in our bathtub right now. They're outdoor pen and coop are waiting for them to get bigger. We can't wait for the fresh eggs. Our founding fathers were farmers, or at least landholders, why not return to our more humble roots as a nation? To imply farming or such "rural" endeavors are hokey as some of the comments here imply, contribute to the Republican stranglehold on too much of rural America.

[Emlyn]

In the days of Teddy Roosevelt, his children had a pony so what is wrong with a chicken or two?

[DaveScriv]

Lots of 'the great and good' do/have kept chickens, although they have usually kept rare breeds (classy chickens). Here in the UK Prince Charles is Patron of the Poultry Club of Great Britain (governing organisation for pure breed poultry shows) and Patron of The Welsummer Club (specialist club for this Dutch breed which lays very dark brown eggs).
If President Obama decided to follow a similar type of chicken breeding, I'd suggest he keeps Dominiques, the most historic American breed.

[ChiProgressive]

My grandma and her sisters used to keeps chickens in their urban house. Our meat consumption would go down if everyone had to kill their dinner like her. The animals definitely would live better lives.

But would you really want to live with the smell of chicken sh*t?

[Muskered]

I like the idea. Rush will have cow.

[eus]

Chickens would be a great 4-H project for one of the girls.

[dausone]

I'm in Los Angeles and recently had a hen wander into our small backyard. After a few midnight run-ins with a family of raccoons and 'possums, we decided to build her a coop. She has been happily laying eggs, eating grass, providing rich organic fertilizer for our garden and we know exactly what is going into the eggs that we eat which are higher in Omega 3's, healthier, and taste better than any eggs you can buy in the store or for that matter local feedlot farms. Never in my wildest dreams would I have decided to have a chicken as a pet, but seriously can not think of not having one and like a lot of other commenters, I don't see why the Obama's should not have chickens to compliment their new garden. It just makes sense.

[MissElaineous]

Actually, your little friend would be happy with a couple of other chooks to keep her company. :-)