KALONA

You don’t need to be a farmer to keep your own flock of chickens. Urban chickens are becoming increasingly common as cities recognize the health benefits of access to fresh eggs while also being environmentally friendly. In our readership area, regulations range from not allowing chickens within the city in Lone Tree to allowing up to 12 within the city of Hills; most typical is allowing four to six hens, as is the case in Wellman, Kalona, and Riverside.

Note the word ‘hens;’ because of concern over noise bothering neighbors, roosters are not allowed in any of the towns we serve. Seems not everyone enjoys being awakened by an urgent “cock-a-doodle-doo!”

Kalona resident Kim Droz-Leaton doesn’t even notice the roosters crowing anymore; her home falls outside of the city’s residential zoning, so she has more flexibility in the chickens she keeps. Her loosely-managed flock consists of about five roosters and perhaps 18 hens, although that number evolves naturally.

Although she need not abide by the more limited rules for chicken-keeping within cities, and her chickens have access to a barn rather than being confined in a coop, Droz-Leaton does not live on a farm, and she keeps the birds simply as a hobby.

Most cities require chickens be domestic breeds; for Droz-Leaton, the specific breed doesn’t matter. She began her flock a decade ago with just five Americana chicks, but the group of birds she cares for today she describes as “just backyard chicken mix.”

“They’re all pretty friendly,” she says as daughter Azry picks Poofy up and holds her close. The bird’s soft feathers are very pet-able, and Poofy doesn’t mind being handled and touched. “[Azry’s] out here all the time with them. When the birds are little-little, she sits in the coop with them.”

The chickens respond when Droz-Leaton calls them and tosses out a handful of treats. They gather around jovially, pecking at the ground for the morsels.

“Backyard chickens are probably the easiest thing,” she says. “You have to clean up after them, and make sure they have food and water,” but that is about the extent of it.

The rewards are numerous.

“My kids love it. It makes me feel like I’m on a farm,” Droz-Leaton says. While others might sit on their porches watching sunsets, or lounge on their decks with a book, her happy place is with the chickens. “I enjoy them. I think they’re fun to watch,” she says, describing the hours she’ll spend watching them interact.

Of course, there are the eggs. Droz-Leaton’s birds lay about eight to 10 a day; the family eats a number of them, but they have plenty left over to sell to friends and acquaintances.

This is another area in which Droz-Leaton’s situation differs from that of folks who must abide by a city’s restrictions. Most urban chicken policies prohibit the selling of eggs and insist that keeping a personal flock be for non-commercial use only.

However, the quality of eggs a backyard flock would produce should be on par. Droz-Leaton feeds her chickens mealworms, and they eat all the naturally occurring bugs they want. The result is an egg with yolks that are “bright orange, because they eat lots of bugs and grass and all the good stuff.”

This bug-eating feature is another of the benefits of raising chickens. “One chicken can eat like 80 ticks in an hour,” she says. “We have not had any problem with ticks here.”

Sometimes folks will ask Droz-Leaton to raise a few chicks on her property until they are 8-10 weeks old, just a couple months shy of laying their own eggs, and then sell the birds to them. She is happy to provide this service.

“It kind of pays for – what do I want to say? My chicken habit,” she says.

If there is a downside to keeping chickens, it might be the mess. The birds roll around in the dirt to clean themselves, and of course, they poop wherever they want. For folks who need things pristine and keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in their pocket, a flock of chickens may not be the best fit.

But for others, the joys of living with chickens are worth it.