Since 2018, the North Shore has gone chicken crazy, with big fat hens popping up on real estate billboards and in backyards from Highland Park to Lake Bluff.
For homeowners like (Matt) Hendrick preparing for first-time chicken ownership, the initial learning curve includes questions about what kind of coop to build or purchase, how to feed and maintain the chickens, and which breeds to purchase.
To get there, Hendrick read books, visited websites and talked to chicken owners who had years of experience raising the birds.
“You really do learn a lot by talking to others who have chickens,” says Helen Sheyka, who has been raising chickens in Barrington Hills since 1994. To share what she learned over the years and learn from others’ experiences, Sheyka began hosting a small chicken club.
“We would all get together and bring an egg dish and talk chickens. It really grew fast,” says Sheyka. At last count, the Barrington Chicken Club had more than 100 attendees from around the North Shore and northwest suburbs.
Read the full unedited story in the Daily North Shore here.
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