By Susan Waughtal
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

The hottest trend in backyard design might not involve gazebos or outdoor kitchens. It just might be chicken coops.

Rochester, perhaps because of its agrarian roots, has had an ordinance allowing backyard chickens for many years, although in the past, not many residents have taken advantage of it. The ordinance allows three hens, no roosters; the owner must have a coop and a permit. A two-year permit costs $20. So far this year, the city clerk’s office has already granted six permits.

Northwest Rochester resident Cheri Dietzman has always had a yen to raise chickens. With the encouragement of a chicken-farming co-worker, three years ago she got a few hens: a Silver Lace Wyandotte, a Speckled Sussex and a Buff Orpington. “All of the chickens are friendly and come running to meet me,” she says. “But the Buff Orpington is probably the sweetest, and she lays huge brown eggs.

“My husband, Kirk, only agreed to chickens because he thought it would be easier than letting me get a horse,” Dietzman adds, laughing.

Nevertheless, Kirk got on board and built a small coop, a raised 4-foot x 4-foot plywood box with a chicken entrance and a door that gives Cheri access to the nesting boxes inside. In warm weather, the hens spend most of their days in a 4-foot x 10-foot fenced chicken yard. The enclosure has a corrugated plastic roof to provide a bit of shade and protection from rain.

Chickens require minimum care. Dietzman feeds them table scraps in addition to chicken feed. And they hunt for bugs.

Many people who raise chickens are also gardeners, and appreciate chickens for their insect-eating prowess and for providing valuable chicken manure fertilizer.

“I love taking a basket of eggs over to a neighbor and when neighborhood families come to visit my chickens. People are very curious and have lots of questions,” she says.

Cheri’s chickens usually lay an egg per chicken per day. A chicken’s egg production is regulated by daylight hours, so it slows during the short winter days, but Cheri uses artificial light so she gets eggs year-round.

Have the chickens paid for themselves in eggs yet? Probably not, she says, but the eggs are delicious, the chickens are entertaining, and it is a delightful recreational hobby.

For anyone interested in raising their own chickens in the city, Quarry Hill Nature Center will be holding a class on Backyard Urban Chicken Ranching on Saturday. The cost is $8 for adults, or $6 for QHNC members. To register, call 281-6114.