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In the Community article:
Something to Crow About
January 22, 2010
Source: Community Partnership Update/February 2010
The trend of consumers growing their own food is spreading like wildfire in Decatur. Many community gardens have sprouted and in some neighborhoods, residents are keeping live poultry.
Thought of starting a coop but don’t know where to begin? Here's a chance to learn all about it.
On Feb. 6 the Chicks in the City Symposium offers attendees a full plate of essentials on backyard chickens. Taught by local experts, the six-session seminar highlights the basics like getting started with backyard poultry, chicken breeds, coop building and designs, ongoing chicken responsibilities, illnesses and diseases and working chickens in your garden.
"The interest in growing or raising anything food-related is soaring," said Stephanie Van Parys, executive director of the Oakhurst Garden. The symposium will bring together many of these ideas -- from the basics of keeping a healthy flock of chickens, to growing and keeping food locally, to connecting more closely with the environment.
Urban coop-keeping provides the newest in green and local food. As one of their primary attractions, "chickens produce food," said Van Parys, regarding both daily egg supply and their meat. Backyard birds also provide organic fertilizer for home gardens. "I consider chicken manure as valuable as the fresh eggs," said presenter and organic gardener Allison Adams. "All that poop and soiled hay goes right into my compost!"
With urban farming on the rise and as concerns about how food is made increase, this workshop will engage and enlighten both the committed "locavore" and the merely curious alike. Symposium presenters will address local ordinances along with more practical, day-to-day concerns of attendees such as how to keep chickens healthy and coop maintenance.
The Chicks in the City Symposium runs from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will be held at the Decatur Recreation Center, 231 Sycamore St., Decatur; the cost is $65. Oakhurst Community Garden Project members, Georgia Organics members, and City of Decatur residents pay $50. Pre-registration is requested and limited to the first 100 registrants. Register at www.oakhurstgarden.org.
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