Why did the chicken cross the road? If you ask anyone who attended Homewood Library’s May 10 event featuring urban chicken consultant Jennifer Murtoff, the answer to that question might be “to get to Homewood.”
Homewood is one of the few villages in the South Suburbs where it is legal to keep chickens in backyard coops. Murtoff showed the audience how to look up local ordinances to see if keeping chickens in their yards was legal, which should be a first step when setting up a chicken coop.
to her sidekick, a white Plymouth Rock hen.
(Karen Torme Olson/H-F Chronicle)
Chicken-keeping at home is Murtoff’s forte: She has been working with chickens most of her life, and she is the founder of “Home to Roost,” a consulting service whose objective is “helping city folks raise chickens.”
Murtoff pointed out which breeds were good for a Chicago climate, where and how to buy chicks, and other chicken info while her “assistant” Sandy, a white Plymouth Rock hen, worked the room like a pro, pecking at attendees’ shoes and going from person to person to introduce herself with chicken sounds and occasional jumps on the table to “talk” to people eye-to-eye.
Murtoff, who learned how to handle chickens on her grandfather’s farm, said she has been educating people about chickens since 2008 and that most have a lot of reasons for keeping the birds besides eggs.
“If you are into gardening, the chicken poop is really good fertilizer,” she said. “You have to let it sit and compost for six to eight months because it has a lot of ammonia, but it’s really good.”
She said that some people keep chickens for altruistic reasons.
“A lot of our cheaper eggs come from birds that are packed in a very small cage and live there their entire lives. A lot of people are raising chickens because they want to be humane and prevent that.”
For Wes Blakely and Dillon Lively, who have lived in Homewood for more than three years and are in the process of buying a new house, building a chicken coop is a natural next step in their efforts to stay healthy.
They said they grow their own vegetables using organic gardening techniques and that they don’t go to restaurants much because “. . .it is hard to tell where the food Is sourced,” Blakely said. He added that building and maintaining a chicken coop in their new house is something they’d like to do. “The chickens would produce great fertilizer and give us more control over what we eat,” he said.
Homewood-Flossmoor High School seniors Ava Taylor of Homewood and Sylbrea Booth of Flossmoor said they decided to attend the presentation the minute they saw it on a sign in the library. Both have visited farms, and both said the visits inspired them to learn more about farm life, including keeping chickens. Taylor said she would like to build a coop as soon as she graduates from H-F in June.
Tracy Woodson of Hazel Crest also said she is preparing to build a coop. The 8th grade teacher at Brooks Middle School in Harvey is serious about getting started in chicken-keeping – the price of eggs and promoting sustainability are just two reasons. She said she is ready to get started.
Besides giving out chicken care information, Jennifer Murtoff can provide emergency advice, troubleshooting and vet referrals for chicken owners.
She can be reached via email at [email protected] or by phone at 708-259-6877. She also has a presence on Facebook via Home to Roost Urban Chicken Consulting, and she has a blog: htrchickens.com.
