BERKS HAS GONE TO The Birds

BY COURTNEY ELL PHOTOS COURTESY OVEREZ CHICKEN COOPS

“Clean eats” and farm-to-table trends prevail, despite family mealtime staples soaring in price. If the swelling levy on storebought eggs has ruffled your feathers, ponder this Magnolia-curated daydream: you sip your morning coffee then pad across the lawn to your cozy backyard coop. Channeling your best Joanna Gaines vibes, your basket brims with a softly tinted spectrum of freshly laid organic eggs. Martha Stewart who? Firing up the griddle, you beam, having provided your own brood with a fresh harvest.

Wholesome Homesteading

Once viewed as being strictly for the birds, backyard chicken rearing has many changing their tune, and it’s no surprise.

“My kiddos love chicken tending. We do this as a family,” Berks County nurse and mother of four Heather Spatz coos. “They help with every single aspect of chicken care — from feeding, water, cleaning coops and runs, to helping with medical care. My very intelligent 11-year-old researches different diseases and illnesses. My 9-year-olds help with food, water and tending to the baby chicks, while my daughter (and nurse-in-training) is extremely compassionate and great at handling them.”

Quick to note how raising chickens has brought the family closer, her children “are learning responsibility to care for dependent living creatures, reaping the rewards of caring for them by collecting a beautiful rainbow of eggs.” Still, it’s not for the faint of heart, Spatz advises. “It’s a tough job, especially in the freezing cold and summertime.”

CUCKOO FOR COOPS?

With more than 300 chicken breeds to choose from, you’ll determine your preferred bird count. You’ll research hatcheries, feed and supplemental nutrition while calculating the square footage necessary per bird — it’s more than you might think! Keeping abreast of best health practices and permit requirements, you’ll brainstorm methods for a year-round climatecomplimentary coop, vigilantly appointing predator protection.

FEELING FRIED?

Roosting resources are as copious and varied as bird breeds; starting from scratch may leave you feeling scrambled, particularly if you’re new to the nest!

Enter Lancaster County’s own Chet Beiler, OverEZ

Chicken Coop owner and CEO. Cheerfully cradling a ginger-kissed hen, Beiler took to ABC’s ominous Shark Tank stage. Little did Beiler know he was about to lay a golden egg of his own when predicting his ingenious modular chicken coops were on the fast track to becoming “the category king for backyard chickens in America.” overezchickencoop.com

Beiler’s poultry prediction proved far from paltry. “Even before the most recent surge in demand driven by a shortage of eggs, the appeal for the homesteading lifestyle has continued to grow,” President Kirson Wenger shares. Preassembled coops are bulky and overpriced. Low-cost imports are poor quality. “OverEZ brings the best of two worlds together,” says Wenger. “Incorporating a sturdy build using Amishquality material,” coops ship efficiently and can be assembled within 30 minutes. “Anyone in the lower 48 states can finally have access to a cost-effective and high-quality coop.” Have thoughts of ruling your own roost set your heart aflutter? Farm-to-table delights like these don’t get more “local” than your own backyard!

Fun Facts

Before Hatching

Your Plan.

Chicken ownership laws can vary greatly from town to town. Zoning ordinances can include coop size, bird count and road/residence proximity. Good Stewardship. Brilliant for soil and plants, chicken poo is high in nitrogen. Backyard chickens excel in pest control and help the environment’s agricultural ecosystem.