ROSS, California: The coronavirus pandemic is coming home to roost in America’s backyards.
Forced to hunker down at home, more people are setting up coops and raising their own chickens, which provide an earthy hobby, animal companionship and a steady supply of fresh eggs.
Crazy for cocks Ron and Allison Abta hold hens in front of their backyard chicken run in Ross, California on Dec. 15, 2020. AP PHOTO
Amateur chicken-keeping has been growing in popularity in recent years as people seek environmental sustainability in the food they eat. The pandemic is accelerating those trends, some breeders and poultry groups say, prompting more people to make the leap into poultry parenthood.
COVID cluckers: Pandemic feeds demand for backyard chickens chron.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chron.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ross, California: The coronavirus pandemic is coming home to roost in America s backyards.
Forced to hunker down at home, more people are setting up coops and raising their own chickens, which provide an earthy hobby, animal companionship and a steady supply of fresh eggs.
Amateur chicken-keeping has been growing in popularity in recent years as people seek environmental sustainability in the food they eat. The pandemic is accelerating those trends, some breeders and poultry groups say, prompting more people to make the leap into poultry parenthood.
Businesses that sell chicks, coops and other supplies say they have seen a surge in demand since the pandemic took hold in March and health officials ordered residents to stay home.
More Americans Are Raising Chickens Thanks to COVID-19 wmal.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wmal.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pandemic boosts demand for backyard poultry flocks
December 30, 2020 / 11:12 AM / CBS/AP Farms see a spike in poultry demand
The coronavirus pandemic is propelling one new American pastime to new heights, with more people forced to hunker down at home setting up coops and raising chickens in their backyards. While the earthy hobby is a source of animal companionship and fresh eggs, it also comes at a cost, with the count of Americans sickened by salmonella linked to backyard poultry higher in 2020 than any previous year.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency and public health officials in all 50 states investigated 17 multistate outbreaks of salmonella illnesses linked to poultry in backyard flocks in 2020. Of the 1,772 Americans stricken in this year s outbreaks, 24% were children under five, 333 required hospitalization and one person in Oklahoma died, the CDC said.