In the last few years, London has become increasingly a town of chicken lovers; a popular pet for City dwellers. Just go into any pet store and you will find a corner dedicated to the food and welfare of chickens.
Now I can hear you asking, why chickens? As a fellow chicken keeper, my opinion is that chickens are fairly low maintenance and more importantly, really become part of the family. I have been keeping chickens along with my brother from a very young age so I was interested to see why chickens had grown in popularity and whether my opinion on them was shared by other keepers around the suburbs.
Bexley resident and Geography teacher, Chris Cherry has been an avid chicken keeper for five years. So when I asked why he keeps chickens, he replied “I am really fond of them. I currently have four chickens, they are all very beautiful and I really like looking after them. They are very entertaining to know”
I must say that I concur with him particularly how he described chickens being their own person which is probably hard to believe for those who don’t keep our feathered friends, but each chicken, like a cat or a dog, has its own personality. Chris said, “When I go in to clean their house, they stand and watch me and then they go in afterwards to check if it has been done to their satisfaction and they make it quite clear if it hasn’t.” My brother tends to clean out the chickens at home and it’s delightful to watch them strut around their coop afterwards, kicking up sawdust like high class inspectors.
Despite the advantages, chicken keeping in urban areas has its problems; Foxes, red mites and rats are some of their most prominent threats. The biggest dangers though are foxes. As anyone in London can tell you, there is nowhere like the City for the sheer density of foxes, mainly as it is a rich source of food for them, be it take-away cartons or over-flowing bins.
One of my friends, Harry Harte, whose family has kept chickens for many years, says foxes can be a real problem. ‘Farmers don’t have to deal with foxes as much as we do in London. It’s sort of ironic! My family have to keep a close eye out when the chickens are allowed out of their coop. Luckily we haven’t had an incident where the chicken has been critically injured because of a fox.’
I’m pleased this is something that isn't just for the countryside and Londoners have caught the bug for keeping chickens. Chicken keeping is one of things that is so individual and fun for all ages. It’s a little miracle and there is quite like it to bring some diversity to urbanized parts of cities and local areas.
Kate Drury
Colfe's School
