… Or he did, back in 1918, as this poster illustrates.
Funny how things change, isn’t it? These days, people have to fight and petition and beg and plead in many municipalities to get their government to let them keep a few backyard hens. And even when city leaders permit it, they lay out complicated rules about how many, where and how the birds must be housed. And please! No roosters!
As the poster so rightly points out, two hens per person will keep a family in eggs. The flock will take minimal effort, cost little and provide plenty of enjoyment, because chickens are fun to watch.
City life, with its sirens, alarms, cars with stereos blaring heart-stopping bass throbbing, could do with a little of the natural beauty of a rooster’s sunrise crowing. Suburbs could also benefit.
But a few hens don’t make much noise anyway. So I can’t understand the objections.
If this was sound advice from our national government in 1918, it’s surely good advice today.
This poster might be just the tool you need if you’re trying to persuade your local council or city leaders that you have the right to keep a few hens in your backyard.
Robin Matheris a senior associate editor at MOTHER EARTH NEWS and the author ofThe Feast Nearby, a collection of essays and recipes from her year of eating locally on $40 a week. In her spare time, she is a hand-spinner, knitter, weaver, homebrewer, cheese maker and avid cook who cures her own bacon. Find her on Google+.