Mar

10 Fine-Feathered Reasons to Keep Backyard Chickens

by Bruce Goldstone on March 31, 2014

Backyard hen and chickens, pets that can help you be happier. (Image © sherjaca/Shutterstock)

Here, chick chick chick. Come to my house!
© sherjaca/Shutterstock

Want to Be Happier? Go to the Birds!

Chances are, backyard chickens are kicking up dust in a yard near you. More and more people in urban and suburban areas are keeping these familiar yet exotic birds and smiling about it.

Could chickens help you be happier? Here’s a flock of ten reasons they just might.

Reason #1: Fresh Eggs Are Tasty

Philosophers can argue “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” until the cows come home, but for chicken keepers the answer’s clear: It’s the eggs.

In a recent poll at BackYard Chickens, 92% of responders said that one reason they keep chickens is for the eggs. Ron Ludlow, the owner of the site, acknowledges the growing popularity of “the pets that make you breakfast!”

Fresh eggs from backyard chickens, illustrating one way these birds can help you be happier. (Image © stocknadia/Shutterstock)

Fresh eggs will keep your sunny side up.
© stocknadia/Shutterstock

Home cooks are discovering that super-fresh eggs from your yard are the secret ingredient that makes extra-special omelets, souffles, and much more. Even a simple fried egg is a delight when you know exactly where it came from.

Reason #2: Chickens Are Surprisingly Good Pets

Even for people who begin keeping chickens for the fresh eggs, these curious and quirky birds often become favorite family pets.

Darrell Schoeling and Jeff Corbin have been keeping chickens in New Paltz, NY for several years now. Although initially reluctant, Darrel has jumped into the hobby with an enthusiasm matched by his birds’ personalities.

Man with backyard chickens indoors, showing how these pets can help you be happier. (Image © Jeff Corbin)

Poultry pals
© Jeff Corbin

Along the way, he’s had many “Oh, I see” moments including this one: “I had no idea they’d be so interactive,” he admits. “They come running when they see us. Our chicken Penguin loves to sit in my lap.”

Reason #3: They’re Cute or Beautiful or Weird-Looking (or Sometimes All Three)

If you think of chickens as dull, brown birds, look again. Chickens come in an astonishing variety of spectacular color combos, from the sublime to the outrageous.

A variety of backyard chickens, pets that can help you be happier. (All images © Shutterstock, top row: sherjaca, Catalin Petolea, Bill Purcell; bottom row: Fotografiecor.nl, sanddebeautheil, sherjaca)

A colorful hen party
© Shutterstock, top row: sherjaca, Catalin Petolea, Bill Purcell
bottom row: Fotografiecor.nl, sanddebeautheil, sherjaca

The Extraordinary Chickens books and calendars by photographer Stephen Green-Armytage show off many unusual breeds. They have a devoted public, eager to gawk at the latest in poultry pulchritude.

Reason #4: Because You Can

City zoning laws permit chickens in a lot more places than you might think. For example, you can keep chickens in New York City or Las Vegas (though in both areas, as in many others, noisy roosters aren’t allowed.)

Businesses like NYC’s Victory Chicken, are helping people in big cities “bring the chicken back into everyday American life.” With an all-in-one package of coop, chickens, supplies, and training, it’s easy to get started, and services for feed delivery, coop cleaning, and chicken check-ups help out later.

A chicken walking down a city street, illustrating the idea that these pets can help you be happier. (Image © Dwight Smith/Shutterstock)

Chickens are permitted in many cities
(though this rooster is probably out of bounds).
© Dwight Smith/Shutterstock

You can visit BackYard Chickens to learn more about local zoning laws in your area, and there’s help on legalizing chickens at My Pet Chicken.

Reason #5: You’ll Be in Good Company

There’s an impressive and growing community waiting to welcome you once you take the poultry plunge.

When Ron Ludlow launched BackYard Chickens in 2007, its forum had about 50 members. That number jumped to 1,000 in 2008 and 25,000 in 2009. Today, the site has over 235,000 members.

Of course, you can connect with chicken celebrities, too, such as Andy Schneider, aka The Chicken Whisperer, whose internet poultry show offers advice on everything from raising chicks to showing prize-winning specimens. His guests are a veritable who’s who of chickendom.

Andy Schneider, the Chicken Whisperer, who talks on Internet radio about how backyard chickens can help you be happier. (Image © Andy Schneider))

The Chicken Whisperer® knows his birds.
© Andy Schneider

Even the literati have gotten involved. Pulitzer-Prize winner Alice Walker joined the chicken brigade with her heart-warmingly goofy memoir The Chicken Chronicles.

Reason #6: Kids + Chickens = Learning Galore!

Keeping chickens can help children learn about responsibility, life cycles, ecology, and animal behavior, all while having fun with a flock of feathered friends.

Girl holding a backyard chicken, a pet that can help you be happier. (Image © Jeff Corbin)

Kids and chickens really click (and cluck).
© Jeff Corbin

Some kids get so involved that they begin to raise and show chickens with organizations like 4-H.

Reason #7: Super-Rich Soil is a Fantastic Freebie

Fantastic soil is yet another by-product of chicken keeping. Darrel Schoeling boasts that the soil produced by composting his flock’s litter is “the envy of the New Paltz Gardens for Nutrition.”

Feed your chickens nearly any kitchen scraps that you’d compost and they’ll turn them into luxurious, nitrogen-rich soil.

Backyard chickens, pets that can help you be happier. (Image © schubbel/Shutterstock)

Kitchen scraps go in and fantastic fertilizer comes out.
© schubbel/Shutterstock

Reason #8: Bugs Away!

Another handy side effect of chickens is their voracious appetite for creepy crawlers.

A grasshopper, one of the insects eaten by backyard chickens, whose pest control can help you be happier. (Image © Kirsanov Valeriy Vladimirovich)

Chickens eat almost anything that crawls.
© Kirsanov Valeriy Vladimirovich/Shutterstock

Happy chickenistas report their birds chomping on grasshoppers, fleas, flies, fire ants, grubs, and pillbugs. They’ve even been seen snacking on scorpions, beginning with the troublesome stinger before getting to work on the rest of the bug.

Reason #9: Going Slow Can Keep Diversity Alive

Chickens are a simple way that many people can participate in the slow-food movement. While most people don’t have the resources to start a self-sustaining organic garden, many have the space available for a handful of egg-laying hens.

This movement to keeping backyard chickens is a move toward self-sustenance with global benefits for food production. And home farming of chickens offers another important fringe benefit—breed diversity.

Two backyard chickens from diverse and unusual breeds, pets that can help you be happier. (Images © Imageman/Shutterstock)

Two faces of chicken diversity
© Imageman/Shutterstock

For efficiency, factory farms keep a very limited number of chicken varieties. Backyard chicken fanciers, however, keep a huge number of rare, heritage breeds that might otherwise go extinct.

Reason #10: Clucking Can Cheer You Up

No matter how you look at them, chickens are kinda funny, which is a very good thing. Backyard chickens can be a natural anti-depressant. Making you laugh is just one more way these friendly fowl can help you be happier.

Backyard chicken, a pet that can help you be happier. (Image © Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock)

Could you keep a straight face around a mug like this?
© Anna Hoychuk/Shutterstock

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Bruce Goldstone 19 Comments

Discoveries

Mar

Antoine Rose Catches the Bird’s-Eye View of Miami

by Sheron Long on March 27, 2014

"Insectarium," image of bathers, beach chairs, and umbrellas above Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Insectarium
© Antoine Rose

Creative Photography from Up in the Air

Strapped outside a vibrating helicopter hovering 300 feet over terra firma, Antoine Rose views his playground below. Unlike other photographers who focus and click, Rose engages in a more difficult creative process:

“I have to mix all sorts of tasks in nearly real time: guiding the pilot; having the right lens; being sure that the camera settings are set up properly; concentrating on the light, the subject, the framing; discussing with the tower control to get clearance.”

Somehow he syncs it up, and the result is a new perspective in creative photography for his Up in the Air Miami series on display from February 27–May 3, 2014, at the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery in New York.

Antoine Rose tethered to a helicopter while shooting bird's-eye view photographs for his creative photography series "Up in the Air." (Image © Simon Cramar)

Antoine Rose shooting completely vertical aerial photographs
from a helicopter above Saint-Moritz
© Simon Cramar

It Started with a Love of the Sea

That love took Rose, born in Belgium, around the world as the official photographer of the Kiteboarding World Cup (2002–2005). Always looking for new vantage points, he developed an aerial “onboard” camera system that was attached to the lines of the kite and remote-controlled from the beach.

The photographs that resulted were an inspiration for more aerial work. At the 2002 World Cup in Rio, Rose boarded a doorless helicopter and took his first aerial photographs of the Copacabana beaches. An “Oh, I see” moment, this experience was, in his words, “the start of a journey.”

Like many artists, Rose’s creative process evolved across years:

“It took me 12 years to fine-tune the process. Anyone can rent a chopper and take some great photography, but I wanted to take fully vertical shots that are difficult from an unstable helicopter. The landing skids are always in the frame!”

"Turquoise," image of beach chairs and umbrellas on Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Turquoise
© Antoine Rose

Dedicated to a Different Perspective

The appeal of Rose’s vertical photographs derives from their bird’s-eye view and the technique of a fearless photographer. Surely, as Rose says, “to be strapped outside a helicopter is not for the faint of heart,” but it is what gives his work such an eye-catching perspective.

The completely vertical view excludes the sky, imposing only two fields on his compositions—the ocean and the beach. In “Turquoise” (above) the two fields are in contrast: the irregular field of the ocean swirls while the umbrellas and sunbeds seem purposely placed on the beach field, cueing a sense of calm.

Other works use only one field—in “Red District” and “Orchestra,” the beach is the backdrop for geometry at play.

"Red District," image of red umbrellas and beach chairs on Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Red District
© Antoine Rose

"Orchestra," image of blue and yellow umbrellas on Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Orchestra
© Antoine Rose

The appeal of these photographs comes from both the geometric arrangements and the transformation of real-life objects into miniatures. The photographs then become more like abstract paintings that can be rotated and displayed in four different ways, according to the viewer’s preference.

Making It Happen in Miami

Miami is the fourth setting in Rose’s Up in the Air series. After three series set in the New York area, Rose wanted to try something different, more geometric to reflect his attraction to abstraction and minimalism. The hotels and private beaches along the Miami shore offered the visual interest.

Rose does not stage his shots. Instead, he wants to keep the spontaneity intact as he comes across views from above. He liked the pink monochrome look when he saw this view of Miami Beach, so appealing to the senses that he named the resulting photograph “Beach Candies.”

"Beach Candies," image of pink umbrellas on Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Beach Candies
© Antoine Rose

As with most creative endeavors, the Miami project took persistence. He scheduled his first shoot for July 4, 2013, to have as many people as possible on the beach. But the capricious weather did not cooperate, handing him less-than-optimal conditions. He returned, crossing the Atlantic twice in 24 hours, and still no pictures. Finally, he got a good day when conditions were great. . . . and so were the photographs.

His compositions are oversized panoramas, some up to 10 feet wide. Both the size and perspective contribute to a statement about the place of people, seen as insignificant dots, in the infinite space of the universe.

"Miami Shore," image of bathers at Miami Beach, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Miami Shore
© Antoine Rose

Ready for the Next Challenge

Last month, Rose began a new and very difficult shooting over New York City—4200 feet at night. It was –20 degrees Celsius outside, and two of his fingers froze. But flying in the dark over the city that never sleeps was magical:

“I’ve spent so many days walking around the endless streets as a tourist in New York. But seeing it at such heights (the altitude of airplanes in their final approach), you get an understanding of how tiny we are!”

The love Rose has for his work comes through. Not only is it rewarding to him when a happy collector hangs one of his pieces on a wall, bringing color and joy to an interior, but he also loves this about his work:

“The creative process and the challenge to accomplish something that seems impossible. . . . I have some projects in mind that are not possible to realize due to budget issues or regulations. I just love to try and remove all those barriers and make it happen, even if it’s a ten-year journey!”

The night photography journey began during his shoots for the Miami series. In the creative mind, new works often stand on the shoulders of prior works— Rose’s next series of creative photography may well offer nighttime landscapes and surely with the bird’s-eye view.

His creativity, like the chopper from which he shoots, is one thing that never stands still.

"Pinball," nighttime aerial image of Miami, from a creative photography series taken by Antoine Rose, whose creative process relies on the bird's-eye view (Image © Antoine Rose)

Pinball
nighttime view of Miami © Antoine Rose

Keep up-to-date on the latest work by Antoine Rose on Facebook. See all Up in the Air photos here. “Red Carpet” from Up in the Air The Hamptons was recently acquired by the Museum of Arts and Design in NY.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Sheron Long Comments

The World's Photography/USA

Mar

The Odyssey of an Obelisk: Luxor to Place de la Concorde

by Meredith Mullins on March 20, 2014

Luxor obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, a story that makes you see things differently when you know how hard it was to get it to Paris. (Image © Vitaly Edush/iStock)

The Luxor obelisk at Place de la Concorde
© Vitaly Edush/iStock

Curiosity Inspires Us to See Things Differently in Paris

You can’t miss it. The Luxor obelisk rises 75 feet from the center of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, taller than anything in the neighborhood.

I have passed this gold-tipped monolith a thousand times, on its little island in the middle of frenzied Paris traffic.

I noted it as one of those odd Paris monuments—a bit discordant with its surroundings, but somehow fitting in—like the Louvre Pyramid; the too colorful, externally piped Pompidou Center; and the mother of them all, the Eiffel Tower.

Luxor Obelisk at sunset at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, inspiration to see things differently when you look closely. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The obelisk is a monument that’s often seen, but not too many people know about its challenging journey to Paris.
© Meredith Mullins

A Closer Look at the Luxor Obelisk

Though I formed fleeting impressions of the obelisk, I never really stopped or studied. I thought it was a replica, perhaps a tribute to cross-cultural relations or a reminder of Napoleon’s early conquests in Egypt.

What I didn’t know is that the obelisk is the real deal—more than 3,000 years old—one of the original entry pylons from Egypt’s Temple of Luxor.

Oh, I see: You can pass something everyday and not know much about its character until you really look. Curiosity often rewards us with incredible tales of adventure.

So . . . just how did a 250-ton piece of granite make its way to Paris using the tools available in the early 19th century?

The voyage was, by all accounts, impossible. The challenges were insurmountable. And yet, thanks to a few courageous and persistent people, the obelisk stands tall in its Paris home.

A Job for the French Navy

In 1830, Egypt gave the gift of two obelisks as a thank you to France for help in modernizing the country. The offer of such an antiquity was an honor. Then, reality set in.

No one believed that it was possible to lower the granite monolith from its long-time position at Luxor, transport it from one continent to another, and raise it upright again in Paris without breaking it.

The Temple of Luxor, with an entry obelisk, the beginning of the journey of the Luxor obelisk to Place de la Concorde in Paris and a way to see differently. (Photo © Medioimages/Photodisc)

The French Navy came to the rescue. Naval engineer Apollinaire Lebas, and his team sailed to Egypt in the Luxor, arriving in 1831. They then proceeded to restructure the ship to accommodate the tall and heavy “needle” and to build a sled and wooden path to drag the obelisk to the ship, all with the help of Egyptian workers.

When all was ready, they carefully lowered the obelisk to the ground, with a complex system of ropes, wood support, and sheer manual strength; but at the last moment, the timbers snapped, and it fell to the ground—thankfully still in one piece.

By the time they finally loaded the obelisk onto the ship, the waters of the Nile were too low to travel. The crew waited six months for the river to rise, and passed the time by exploring archaeological sites and tombs and collecting artifacts for museums and their “personal collections.”

The Luxor finally set sail, but by the time the ship reached the mouth of the Nile, the water was too low to proceed over the final sandbar.

Another wait, a cholera epidemic, the long sail through the Mediterranean, several ports of refuge in the Atlantic, the final trip down the Seine . . . and the difficult journey was complete.

Hieroglyphics on the Luxor obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, a story that helps us see things differently (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

The hieroglyphics on the Luxor obelisk tell stories of the pharaohs’ exploits and pay tribute to the gods.
© Meredith Mullins

The Talk of the Town

Things in the capital were not quiet while waiting for the ship. King Louis-Philippe and the usual interested parties—urban planners, city officials, Egyptologists, writers, and poets—were busy debating where to place the obelisk.

Model monoliths were constructed out of wood and cardboard and placed in the two most likely spots (Place de la Concorde and Invalides). Parisians had time to let the view sink in.

In reality, Louis-Philippe had already decided on Place de la Concorde. He wanted that square to be known for the new obelisk, not for the guillotine that put so many to death in that spot during the Revolution.

Gold images at the base of the Luxor obelisk at Place de la Concorde in Paris, part of the story to see things differently about the obelisk journey. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

A history of the Place de la Concorde installation in 1836,
engraved in gold at the base of the obelisk
© Meredith Mullins

The Day of Reckoning

The obelisk was finally ready for its grand debut in October, 1836. A crowd of 200,000 gathered to witness the historic (and dangerous) event.

Apollinaire Lebas was there, directing the operation. In true navy-captain fashion, he stood directly under the obelisk as it was raised, ready to “go down with the ship” should anything go awry.

After a few tense course corrections, broken bolts, and strained ropes, the obelisk was finally straightened and stabilized. The king gave the signal; and the crowd, after three hours of suspenseful silence, erupted in applause.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Egyptian obelisks were a more common gift (or object of pillage) than one might imagine. Today, ancient obelisks reside in France, England, Turkey, Italy, and the United States, perhaps a result of the old adage “If you can get it to your country, it’s yours.”

Obelisk in Central Park in New York, one of several gifted to foreign countries, part of the story to make us see differently about the tales of the obelisks. (Photo © bwzenith/iStock)

For France, one obelisk was enough. After the seven-year ordeal for the first obelisk, no French officials were anxious to undertake those challenges again. In 1981, President Mitterrand officially “returned” the second obelisk, diplomatically suggesting it stay in its country of origin.

The top of the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, part of the story that makes us see things differently. (Photo © Meredith Mullins)

In 1998, the obelisk received a new “crown” of gilt bronze,
identical to the original one in its early life in Egypt.
© Meredith Mullins

Wisdom of the Ages

Is there a moral to the obelisk tale of adventure? Yes. Persistence. Patience. Problem solving prowess. All good virtues.

For me, inspired to see things differently, two other messages leap out.

Backstories are fascinating. I am making a vow to “stop and study” more often.

On the subject of gifts: If someone offers a 75-foot, 250-ton piece of carved antiquity, it may be best to politely negotiate for something more manageable.

Obelisk at the Piazza del Popolo in Rome, one of the obelisks outside the Place de la Concorde in Paris, a way to see differently about the distribution of obelisks. (Photo © Danieloncarevic/iStock)

“The Voyage of the Obelisk” at the Musée national de la Marine is on exhibit until July 6, 2014. To learn more about Place de la Concorde and see other Paris monuments, visit Paris Info.

Comment on this post below.

Meredith Mullins 4 Comments

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