I wonder if this is a viable investment for the San Francisco crowd’s retirement
SnT
Bay Area's pampered backyard chicken trend ripe for a backlash
They walk like chickens, they cluck like chickens, and
they cost $350 a bird.
Last week, a viral Washington Post story chronicled the life and times of the Bay Area's well-heeled pet chickens and their luxe digs, calling the birds "
the Silicon Valley elite's latest status symbol."
"Egg-laying chickens are now a trendy, eco-conscious humblebrag on par with driving a Tesla," the Post reported.
The catalogue of surreal luxuries that followed would not be out of place on a reality television show:
The Real Chickens of Silicon Valley. One woman, whom the Post dubbed the "chicken whisperer,"
offers her consultation services on chicken-related matters at the rate of $225 per hour. High-roller chicken owners reportedly pay $350 per bird for heritage breeds, spend tens of thousands of dollars on luxury chicken coops, install high-tech monitoring systems and hire personal chefs to cook for their chickens.
But some chicken enthusiasts are pointing out that that kind of life of excess isn't necessarily good for the birds, nor is it an accurate representation of most in the chicken-rearing community.
"There are cases where people are killing their birds with kindness. They're feeding them oatmeal every morning, greek yogurt," said Greg Howes, owner of Two Flew the Coop, a Sacramento business that sells artisan chicken coops and other supplies for raising backyard hens.
Howes has raised chickens in urban environments for the past 20 years and teaches classes on how to do so responsibly.
This couple decided to build a larger coop for their chickens when they recently expanded their flock. They came up with a spaceship design for the chicken coop that also lit up. When the chickens walked into the spaceship coop, it looked like they were being abducted by extraterrestrials.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...h-12736229.php
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