“You’ve definitely got a rooster . . . he came over and tried to get on my crippled chicken,” My neighbor informed me.

I was wide-eyed and speechless leaning up against the chain link fence that runs the length of our yards.

Adhered against our joint fences were two very different interpretations of urban chicken coops and their respective runs.

Recently, I read on the Internet that the domesticated fowl can fill a spiritual hole in an increasingly technology-focused society. In other words chickens have become chic.

Back in March, for the price of a video game, we loaded the minivan with four adopted fuzzy chicks, feed, a heat lamp, bulb, a water feeder and a feed box from Keppler’s Feed Store in Renton. Having no experience in raising chickens.

I had high hopes of raising hens as a fun activity with fresh, free-range eggs as a fringe benefit.

And yet four months later, here I stood, defensive, feeling like I was talking about my adopted errant teenage son run wild in the neighborhood.

Yikes! These chickens certainly weren’t “Zenning” me out. In fact, contrary to the bliss I’d read that others experienced by frolicking chickens who knew their names and were fun loving.

How was I to react to this latest chicken drama with my rooster attacking my neighbor’s crippled chicken?  And the greater question, how had I gotten into this chicken drama to begin with?

The answer bounced back like an echo by way of Patrick’s whooping toddler cry. The bliss for me I realized was watching my naked 3-year-old boy chasing the chickens around the yard wearing mismatched dino boots – but having a ball.

Patrick kept letting what he considered his reptilian friends out of their cage. Along with the rabbits and ducks. A melee ensued . . . a mass exodus to the safety of our neighbors’ coop.

Watching Patrick chase his chickens and my 11-year-old Sophie painstakingly clean and care for them was worth what otherwise on the surface felt like drudgery.  After four months we still had yet to get one egg and the aggravation of free-range meant walking through a mine field of chicken poop — yes, I know chicken pooh is great for the garden – but stepping in it is no fun.

And honestly their once cute feet took on that reptilian claw. I didn’t even like touching them — but touch them I must because of Patrick’s extra- curricular activities.

As a mother hen myself, I had to do something about that rooster. Besides it wasn’t neighborly to have “our” rooster prowling around the neighborhood on unsuspecting hens.

It was the chickens that had brought us together with our neighbors. In the two years that we’d lived in our new house, we’d only exchanged a few passing waves.  Now we compared notes and chronicled chicken stories daily.

“Call Keppler’s and see if they’ll take the rooster back,” my neighbor suggested.

I nodded. Good ole Keppler’s.  Just thinking about them down the street made me feel better.

For whatever the reason – food source, loving pet, calming spiritual source  – chickens have become the fastest-growing urban pet. According to an interview with Director Pamela Burton of the Seattle Tilth, the City Chicken Workshop sessions have been filled to standing-room only. The two-hour classes held four times a year teach new chicken owners the basics in building coops and keeping their animals healthy.

But Seattle’s far away when you’ve got a struttin’ rooster on the prowl and Keppler’s is just down the street in the Renton Highlands as it’s been since the 1940’s.

Keppler prides itself on customer service and over the last few months it feels like we’ve become regular fixtures at the old feed store.

I talked with Nick Laborde, an employee and relative of the owners.

“In 2008 Bryan and Rhonda Cross purchased Keppler’s.  My uncle grew up around here and he couldn’t stand to see it going down hill, so they bought it.”

Whether it was the recommendation for “rooster booster” after one of our chickens was injured and consequently nearly pecked to death by the others, or this time I’m calling to see if they would take the rooster back.

Amber, a longtime employee happily called another of their customers who was looking for a rooster and told me to bring our rooster right down.

Through this learning curve Keppler’s has always been there for us.  

Even though this has been challenging it’s been a great experience for the kids. Taking care of the chickens has been an every day grind that they didn’t anticipate and yet wouldn’t give up on. If you’re willing to take on the challenge, it’s well worth it.

I love suggestions! If you know of people or places in Renton that surprise, delight and inspire the community, drop me a line at carolyn@pippimamma.com. Also follow Carolyn on her blog, www.pippimamma.com.

Let’s go farmin’

Did you know that Seattle is known as a national hot spot for chickens and urban farms? See for yourself!

This is your chance to visit folks who are keeping chickens and creating “urban farms” right here in the city of Seattle and in the surrounding area. On July 9, you can glean great ideas from creative neighbors who are incorporating animals and unique gardens into their home landscape.

The territory ranges from Edmonds to Renton, with sites in Issaquah and Duvall, and everywhere in between. For more information check out the Seattle Tilth website.

http://seattletilth.org/special_events/chickencoopurbanfarmtour