Chickens on the Urban Farm

This spring we began an exciting new project at the Urban Farm. Thanks to grant funding from Theisen’s and Farm Credit Services, and the skills of our Neighborhood Building department, we were able to build a coop and welcome six new chickens to the farm. If you have ever had the joy of raising chickens you know how fun they are to watch, and nothing beats fresh eggs, but we have a few other plans for our new friends. We are going to put them to work.

In April, we lovingly chose six chicks from Theisen’s of three different varieties to join our squad. Once they had grown enough we moved them out to the coop. It was obvious that they were going to be the highlight for a lot of the local students who visit the Urban farm throughout the year. This was particularly true for our elementary school visitors, and summer food camp participants.

Part of the Cultivate Hope education program is to connect students to the food they eat. We encourage them to explore the food they can grow themselves, because we know students make connections to their food when they can be a part of the process. Just like harvesting and eating broccoli, picking eggs and cooking them can give that same benefit. Eggs are a perfect source of protein for growing kids, and giving them that experience can help them appreciate even more where their food comes from.

This August, the chickens began laying eggs, and we are excited to host the students from Cedar River Academy in October for their annual fall field trip. We know the students will be excited to see how much the chickens have grown.

The farm itself has also benefited, as chickens are compost accelerators. When allowed to forage in beds after harvest, they turn and aerate the soil while searching for scraps and bugs. All while keeping the weeds down and preparing the beds for future plantings. We have begun this process on a small scale and hope to have our coop fully mobile this fall.

Read more from our autumn 2024 newsletter