More chickens raised in Orange County

Chickens might be land-bound, but local sales of the birds are certainly taking off.

Roy Sumner, an owner of Sumner-Byrd Farm Inc. Poultry Chick Dealer and a self-described “chicken whisperer,” said he has seen his business triple in the last two years and expects the trend to continue.

“I started with $20,000 per year and now $100,000,” he said. “January next year will be over $100,000.”

Sumner’s farm is based in Holly Springs and sells to people in 17 different counties in North Carolina. He said he has sold more than 90,000 chickens at a rate of about 12,000 per year.

He said he sells so many chickens that keeping abreast of the orders can be a challenge — he can’t get chickens in stock fast enough.

This upsurge in what is typically called urban farming is part of a nationwide movement toward a more sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle.

“The whole world has gone green,” Sumner said. “The whole world has gone fresh.”

In 2009, the Chapel Hill Town Council passed an ordinance permitting up to 10 chickens in backyards. A prior ordinance had allowed up to 20 chickens to be kept in yards, but only in a limited number of residential zoning areas.

The increase in fowl comes with its issues — sadly, when a chicken crosses the road in Chapel Hill or Carrboro, Bob Marotto, the director of Orange County Animal Services, has to impound it.

Marotto said he has had to impound a dozen or two dozen fowl across Orange County in the last year.

The most common offense among the poultry of Orange County is roaming off their owners’ property, he said. These miscreants are held by Animal Services until their owners reclaim them.

Avid chicken farmer and Pittsboro resident Gigi Davidson hasn’t experienced any of these problems.

“They are so well-behaved inherently, when the sun starts to go down they put themselves into their coop,” she said. “All I have to do is close the door.”

Typically these urban fowl are kept for their eggs. But according to Davidson, eggs are only one of the benefits poultry can bring to a garden.

“The chickens do a fair amount of weed-eating and pest-eating,” she said.

Davidson said she currently has four chickens. She purchased them as chicks for $3.50 each but said the real cost comes when buying a coop that keeps the chickens safe.

She said a nice coop can cost anywhere from $250 to $500 — but her initial security and housing plans were scrambled after a neighbor’s dog attacked her flock. The dog left four of her chickens dead, and she had to invest in a more potent electric fence.

From late March until mid-September Davidson’s chickens lay about an egg a day. She uses the surplus eggs as barter materials for meat and vegetables from other farmers.

But whatever the financial and health benefits may be, Davidson is happy just admiring her chickens.

“They are characters, they are absolutely hilarious to watch,” she said.

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