Is the urban chicken coop the trend that isn't happening?

May 23, 5:20 PMNutrition ExaminerAnnie Kay

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There's one! Photo

Have you heard the media stories about urban chicken raising as the hot new eco-trend? I have - in several newspapers and even on the radio. Could it have been NPR?

If you believe the media, chickens should be running around absolutely everywhere. And as a culinarily interested gal, I've been keeping my eyes peeled. I have to say I haven't spotted one yet. I thought when I moved to the city I'd see those coops everywhere, and be offered fresh eggs by my neighbors. No baskets yet.

Well, the fab blogs Epicurian and Slate both blew the whistle on this heavily reported but rarely observed trend. When I read these reports, especially Slate, it was 'awww, I knew it'. I know how messy and stinky and noisy chickens can be. And living for a time on the N Shore of Kauai, where the chickens run free by the flock, well, you know it when they're around.

Slate postulates that an eager beaver reporter at some urban paper jumped on the story, then another eager beaver picked up the thread, and so on, and so on.

I'm o-so curious to hear from any urbanite who's seen one.