700,000 Brits now keep chickens in flock to join hen-keeping craze | Mail Online

Spreading new wings: 700,000 have flocked to join the craze for hen-keeping
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


The biggest revival in hen- keeping since the Second World War is under way in Britain.
Around 700,000 of us now keep hens, saving money in tough times by having our own supply of eggs. The figure from the British Hen Welfare Trust is a rise of 80 per cent in three years.
The boom in grow-your-own fruit and vegetables has spilled over to keeping hens, which was common in Britain during the war when eggs were rationed.

Feathering our nests: Around 700,000 of us now keep hens, saving money in tough times by having our own supply of eggs
The practice remained popular for some years afterwards.

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With the credit crunch still biting, the fun of keeping hens and the prospect of having freshly laid eggs for breakfast by simply popping out to the garden has become more appealing.

Shop bought? No thanks: Freshly laid eggs has become more appealing
Supermarkets are meeting the rising demand for chicken coops by selling their own ranges from £140. At Tesco sales of coops have increased by 180 per cent in the past three years.
And a leading supplier of chicken coops, West Yorkshire-based Navigation Distribution, said sales have more than doubled nationwide in the same period.
Brian Mott, director of dried pet food supplier Nature’s Grub, said: ‘It would appear that we are seeing a return to 50 years ago when it was quite usual to keep half-a-dozen chickens in the backyard.
‘Over the past few years, more and more Britons have started growing their own fruit and vegetables and the next step in the consumer return to “the good life” seems to be having their own eggs.’

La gallina se revela como la nueva mascota anti crisis

conviene recordar que en el Reino Unido, la "avicultura doméstica" es una tradición muy extendida y arraigada. Mucha gente tiene gallinas en el patio de su adosado, no digamos ya los que viven en el campo.... En la españa rural (donde siempre ha habido gallianas, y tenemos nuestras razas autóctonas), también se está percibiendo un aumento de la "afición". Sin ir mas lejos, mis amigos urbanitas antes miraban mi afición por las gallinas (tanto para huevos como para carne) como algo folclórico.... tipo paco martínez soria. Ahora, con las crisis, y el runrún madmaxista, cada vez que les suelto que a mi da igual, ya que tengo huevos y carne asegurada... en el fondo de su mirada percibo cierta envida...

Leí un artículo sobre el mismo tema en EEUU en una national geographic hará un par de años, hablaban en los barrios urbanos de Nueva York empezaban a surgir comunidades que estaba produciendo gallinas y huevos para su autoconsumo, había desde neo-hippies, hasta urbanitas que lo tenían como hobby, gente con problemas económicos e incluso la comunidad musulmana, para garantizar el abastecimiento de alimentos que cumplieran al 100% con sus creencias religiosas.

Por lo visto se ha puesto de moda que la gente monte sus huertos en solares o en las azoteas de los edificios, 100% ecológicos y algunos están empezando a abastecer a restaurantes vegetarianos y demás:

Urban Farm — City Farmer News

Bronx urban farm grows out of abandoned lot through father and son 20-year effort

NGM Blog Central - Urban Chickens - National Geographic Magazine - NGM.com

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