Backyard bounty: Families raising chickens to help cope with slowdown

SOUTH JORDAN — Six-year-old William Richmond doesn't care which came first — the chicken or the egg — as long as the shelled one is cooked just right so he can dip his toast in its yolk after eating its "white stuff."

William and his South Jordan family are part of a growing population of Utahns buying small flocks of backyard fowl this year as a supplementary food staple. Most of them cite the troubled economy as their No. 1 motivation.

And more chickens could be flocking to the suburbs if Salt Lake County loosens its zoning regulations. Currently, the county only allows chickens on properties that are at least a half-acre and zoned agricultural. The proposed change would permit up to 15 fowls in more common-sized yards, according to Bev Uipi, community relations specialist in Mayor Peter Corroon's office. The deadline for public and community councils to comment is April 1.

Before the National Bureau of Economic Research formally announced the beginning of a recession, Bud Wood, co-owner of the giant Iowa chicken farm McMurray Hatchery was working his gentle 99.5-degree incubators overtime to keep up with a sudden booming demand in spring 2008.

"We were running 'em at full capacity last spring," Wood said. "People saw this economy coming, and it brought out the do-it-yourselfers who want more sustainable food. And this year's been even bigger."

The already-piling-up orders indicate the company will have its busiest year in its 92-year history.

Because people are vacationing less right now, they can "completely justify" such a hobby, Wood said.

"People think, 'If nothing else, we can at least put eggs and meat on the table in the future,'" he said.

That's exactly what South Jordan resident Fae Laurie, 58, and her husband have been doing for the past year with their five feathered egg-generators.

Laurie collects four to five eggs a day from the chickens, and when she and her husband feel a protein overload, they march next door.

"Some people bake and take cookies around," she said. "I take fresh eggs."

The Intermountain Farmers Association store in Riverton, where Laurie bought her fuzzy chicks, has been selling 600 chicks a week.

IFA employee Amber Anderson, 25, said most of those sales are to separate families of rookie handlers in clutches of about six.

The IFA in Salt Lake City has sold about 500 of the $2-$4 chirping fuzz balls a week since mid-February.