Oakland, Calif. — Mary Ellis and Ben Arnold live in a quaint 1,200 square foot bungalow just under a major freeway in Oakland. With traffic rushing overhead, Mary-Ellis and I walk down the gravel front-yard path through raised vegetable beds, exotic Dr. Seuss-like plants she uses to dye wool, and a sophisticated composting system. “Ah, look.� She sighs as we approach the little house at the back of the small lot, but the explanation for her dismay is lost as BART roars overhead. From the path she takes up a small, cream-colored chicken who has literally flown the coop. She glares, admonishing the larger fowl on the other side of the three-foot wire fence. “Pecking order,� she says to me. “It’s a real thing.�

“There is an immense sense of disconnect and speed in urban existence,� explains Mary-Ellis, who is an attractive and articulate graduate of Dartmouth College and UCSF, who now works as a Nurse Practitioner. “My chickens,� she laughs as Flora, the porcelain mille-de-fleur perched upon her shoulder, pecks at her glinty earring. “Oooh…� she croons, unable to resist the attention, “Shiny-shiny! You lurve shiny things!� To me she says, “See, this is amazing. This is inter-species dialogue. A powerful urban antidote. If we live with constant disconnection and speed … these animals are the ultimate connection and languor.�

The City of Oakland appears to agree, allowing Mary-Ellis’s chickens (as well as her four angora rabbits, her two dogs, and even the goats she desires but her husband is reluctant to adopt). The city does limit dogs to three, prohibits the keeping of roosters, and stipulates that fowl be housed 20 feet from any dwelling. When asked about the popularity of chicken-raising, President of the American Poultry Association, Dave Anderson says, “In the face of a lot of adversity what with zoning and city ordinances … we are certainly holding our own.�

Menlo Park psychotherapist Diana Ford suggests that urban animal husbandry provides more than fresh eggs and a farm-like feel: “These animals fill the need for an attachment ‘object’ in how they are always present for their owner—especially herd or flock animals that like to stay close. Overall, they make few demands and return a fair amount of emotional attachment.�

Even in urban settings, however, chickens maintain natural rhythms with egg production decreasing in winter months. “Having fewer eggs is no big deal,� says Mary-Ellis. “Molting is far more traumatic.� Last spring, one hen was visibly embarrassed by her denuded state. She fell silent and left the coop only to eat. “I sewed her a little sweater out of polar fleece because she looked so cold,� Mary-Ellis explains. “But chickens instinctively attack anything foreign. It didn’t go well.�

On the Peninsula, Menlo Park residents Randy and Joan Joss aren’t sewing sweaters, but they seem equally devoted to their dozen hens. “You can’t believe,� Randy says, “the sense of community.� “Yes!� elaborates Joan. “We have a neighbor down the street who was out front when a few escaped. He got a real kick out of it—even helped with the herding. Now he pays 10 dollars a month for his weekly eggs. We’ve become good friends!�

The Josses agree that cheerful clucking and fresh eggs are worth occasionally spraying chicken poop off the patio. “The only time things got traumatic,� says Joan, “was when Fred flew over the fence and got … well … eaten by the neighbor’s dog. The kids were sad, but it was a rooster we couldn’t keep. Nature’s way, maybe!�

Indeed, many municipalities forbid roosters. Though Menlo Park technically allows them, fowl are limited to 50 (!) per quarter acre and, “any fowl which by any sound or cry shall disturb the peace and quiet,� is prohibited. When proposing to ban roosters from Oakland last year, Councilman Laurence Reid reported that, “Contrary to popular myth, roosters do not limit their crowing to sunrise hours. … In 2004 there were approximately 44 complaints related to rooster crowing.� More interesting still: “Of the 44 complaints investigated, officers found evidence of cock fighting at 18 locations.� Cock fighting, however, is fodder for an entirely other article.

“Make no mistake,� says Southern Californian Dave Belanger, publisher of Backyard Poultry magazine, “small flock poultry raising is definitely increasing in popularity.� According to Belanger, Countryside Publications identified the trend, launching their latest magazine early this year. “As issue number four comes off the press this week, Backyard Poultry has nearly 25,000 subscribers, way ahead of where our initial projections told us we’d be at this point.� Though it is difficult to establish just how many Americans have fowl in their backyards, Belanger considered the amount of feed and number of chicks sold to non-farming residences then told me, “I’d have to guess that close to 1 million households raise poultry. I realize that’s nearly 1% of households in the United States, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the actual number is much higher.�

Also aware of the trend is Johannes Paul of Omlet Inc, a U.K.-based company that launched in the States in March. “Our first year, [1994] we got over 500 inquiries a week from the U.S.,� says Paul, who reports that since March that number is over 600. The company manufactures the “Eglu,� which looks like a slightly enlarged iMac and comes with up to three chickens. Aimed at people “with a regular backyard, but who are keen on keeping chickens,� the Eglu’s success, according to Paul, “has really snowballed.�

Life is not entirely cushy, however, for even the best-kept fowl. “One afternoon,� Mary-Ellis confides, “I heard terrified chicken sounds. They have a specific vocalization for predatory animals. It actually sounds like, ‘HAWK!’� She rushed out to find her speckled bantam, “Rocket,� missing. Glancing up, she saw an ominous bird perched in her apple tree. “Talons,� she says, hooking her fingers, “like you wouldn’t believe.� After exhausting the search (Rocket returned unharmed the next morning) Mary-Ellis discovered through internet research that not even downtown Oakland was immune to “Raptor Migration Season.�

Vanessa Biddle, whose husband Jamie Reilly surprised her one day with a trio of chicks for their tiny yard in Venice Beach, was more concerned about the family’s two large dogs than raptors. “Within days,� she says, “they were sharing the same water bowl!� Though her brother, Tate Anthony, had long been raising chickens in Philadelphia who are welcome to roam through the house and who come on car rides, Vanessa was reluctant. “But seriously … what’s not to like? They’re totally easy, self-sustaining pets. They walk around the yard eating bugs and weeds … and there are delicious eggs every day.� Her only concern is the next farm animal her husband might adopt. “He talks about goats. And just last week I opened a package from Amazon … Beekeeping for Dummies!�

Although Mary-Ellis is wholly devoted to her Oakland menagerie, she is ever the pragmatist. When asked about the Avian Flu, she shook her head. “As soon as it hits the Continent, it’s time for chicken soup.� Stooping, though, she picked up Flora, who nestled into her ponytail. “I might have to get this little one some diapers and make her a house chicken.� (Indeed, there exists “www.chickendiaper.com�) She laughs. “Some nutty people do. That could be me!�

“They are the best pets … just wonderful,� says Randy Joss, echoing Mary-Ellis’s devotion. The latter is gleeful as she urges me to squat down and fully appreciate the dirt bath in which young Flora is indulging herself. Soil pings against the sides of the galvanized tub I had naively mistaken for a fallow planter as the bantam wriggles her breast into the dirt, spreads her wings, and deftly flings clods and dust onto her cream-colored back. “This is how she keeps herself parasite free,� says a proud Mary-Ellis. She sighs, settling in. “I could just sit here all day and watch my chickens … do chicken things.�