When Sustainablilty Bites.

     Urban Farming by choice isn't the path commonly chosen by city dwellers. However, those of us that love to see patches of green will usually find the transition of urban gardening to urban farming very easily. Not to stay that the actual work is easy. No way that's far from true. It is defiantly hard work, but well worth the effort. Urban farming as it is now called, is the transition from growing a few vegetables as a hobby, and slowly migrating towards growing fruits and vegetables as a source of sustainability. It's the act of trading lawns for vegetable beds. The size of an Urban farm garden is only limited to amount of space the individual grower  has to cultivate and the amount of time allocated by the grower towards its up keep. Keeping in mind the weekly activities of this individual is important, full time careers, raising children, schoolwork, house hold chores this list get bigger and bigger. So you need to keep this in mind when planning an Urban Farm Garden.

     Yet things get a little bit more complicated when deciding to add livestock to an Urban backyard Farm. I for one have made this choice and found it an  easy decision to make.  Having backyard livestock  has its perks, free eggs, meat and manure, but this also comes with a bit of responsibility too. Having made this choice, of adding chickens as the livestock of choice in my Urban Farm, knowing all to well that it comes with the added responsibility of housing, feeding, and the over all health of hens. After all happy chickens make for better tasting eggs. Needless to say, it has been a learning process over this last year raising them. I had to take into account how these hen would survive within the co-op during the winter months. How would I get fresh water to them without it freezing in below zero weather. More to the point I had figure out how to protect them from predators. Yes, that's right. Having chicken's in your backyard not only gets the attention of your neighbors it also get the attention of your resident, raccoon, possums, and hawks.

     My first encounter with the resident raccoon was not a pleasant one. I received a phone call one evening at work from my wife as she screamed in horror, as she gave me detailed accounts of the raccoons carnage in the hen house as it killed one of our hens. It was to be our first loss. I wasn't ready for the killing of the hens.  I was content with having them for their eggs.   The idea of butchering the hens was never part of the plan, and it took a raccoon to teach me this valuable lesson.  I was saddened by the event, but not upset. I justified it as the natural order of things. I have been taking from the earth for as long as I can remember, well I guess nature wanted something back in return. Therefore, it took one of my hens as payment, I guess we are even for now. However, with this being said I was not going to have an encore performance. After that night, and every evening since this attack, the hen house has been on lock down. As soon as the sun sets, they are lock up for the night and then re- released at dawn. This routine seemed to work for a while until the attack came from above.

     It was late August, and it was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, the sun was out, with a light breeze and a slight promise of winter to come. I had been sitting outside, on my rear stoop, as I tossed the hens some scratch grains to keep them busy. I do this a lot with them, its really relaxing to watch them in action. As I tossed the feed scratch, the hens began pecking and scratching the earth as they do in search for edible tid bits. Then suddenly in unison, they froze, like children playing a childhood game of  Simon says. Before realized what was happening they all made a mad dash to the four corners of the property.  North, South, East, and West, they ran, under the porch, under shrubs, under tables anywhere for cover. I had no idea what was coming, but I knew it wasn't good.  Then I saw the large dark shadow first. For a second there I though I should be running for cover myself.  However before I had a mental picture of what was actually happening, it was something right out of a PBS special wild life program, it appeared right out of one of my oak trees.  What seemed to me to be the most enormous hawk I have ever seen. The wing span was easily 3 feet across, and it was after my hens. I didn't have time to think just react. I keep a large rake by the rear stoops at all times for convenience . With one quick impulse I had the rake in hand waving it in the air making me appear larger then the hawk. The hawk seemed to get the point and took off. But not before it landed on my fence and looked at me as if to say, "I will be back".  I had to agree with it, I knew it would be. I may have won that round, but I know it will wait for the day when it can catch me off guard. Therefore, I can never leave my guard down. The local wildlife is opportunistic, it will adapt to its changing environment. Therefore, I will have to keep one step ahead of the local wildlife at all times.

     Not to say that I can protect my hens from everything. Mother nature will have her way. I quickly learned that chickens die.  Ether by my hand or someone else's hand.  No matter what I do some will make it, and live happy healthy lives, while others will fall pray to the local wild life or  for no other apparent reason  just die. Such is the order of the natural world. I had to learn that aspect of raising chickens in an Urban setting the hard way. For those of you who feel up to the challenge, and want to try their hand at raising chickens for eggs or a meat bird, make it a point to learn the art of humanely killing of a chicken.  It will come especially handy when one of your hens succumb to illness's. As a Urban hobby Farmer learning this aspect of farming is a must, it is not the most pleasant part of the craft, but necessary one.  This was the part of Sustainability which I found that bites.   I haven't graduated to butchering yet, and I don't know if I will ever be ready.  But as the saying goes,"knowing is half the battle".  Once I have mastered the art of butchering a chicken, I will be ready for what ever comes my way.