Easter Eggs Crack City Codes

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What to my web-surfing eyes should appear, but two stories of hen-keepers, to each other quit near.

Seriously, though, maybe because it's Easter weekend, Salon.com and the New York Times both ran articles about families keeping backyard chickens in New York City. One story is light and hopeful, the other dark and ominous.

The dark one really feeds into my reservations about defying city codes to get my own backyard chickens.

My Life as an Urban Egg Smuggler

I give them away at work and sneak them into bars as birthday gifts. Such is life as a "chickeneer" in the big city. (Read more at Salon.com.)

In Queens, Chickens Clash With the Rules

Keeping chickens in New York City has become a popular hobby, especially in precincts of Brooklyn where foodies and do-it-yourselfers prize locally grown food. Ms. Saye, 48, bought a dozen heritage chickens last July to provide free-range eggs for her daughter ... But a month ago, she learned of a different type of threat to her chickens: the stringent restrictions that homeowners in her neighborhood are supposed to abide by. (Read more at nytimes.com.)

#chickens #eggs #backyardchickens #livestock #permaculture