Move over pandemic puppies. COVID chickens are on the rise

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Fertile hatching eggs at Alchemist Farm, a rare-breed hatchery in Sebastopol, where orders have exploded during the pandemic.

Sitting in his Hayward office, Howard Wire Co. owner Tim Curren spends most of his days fielding orders for wire mesh for fry baskets, balcony railings and commercial pigeon screens. But in the spring, he saw a huge sales increase in another area — chicken wire, the hexagonal mesh traditionally used for chicken coops. Curren has owned the company since 1974 and can't recall ever seeing such a surge before. His sales of chicken wire skyrocketed 40%.

"We’ve had an exceptional number of people coming in, wanting to make cages for chickens and pets they acquired during COVID," he says.

As the pandemic shut down the Bay Area and shoppers frantically emptied grocery store shelves of canned goods and toilet paper, supply-chain concerns and the sudden increase of time at home prompted a rush in another sector: chicken-keeping. At hatcheries, exotic breeds — such as Polish chickens, with their large crests, or Araucanas, which lay sky-blue eggs — commanded increased prices and have been sold out for months.

Forget pandemic puppies; it's all about COVID chickens.

Franchesca Duval, who owns Sebastopol's Alchemist Farm (a humane and zero-waste chicken hatchery), saw a tidal wave of interest in her farm's chicks and hatching eggs. "We were doing our normal amount of business, but then on March 13, we were all of a sudden sold out through June. We’ve never had anything quite like that before," she says. "It was insane."

Duval estimates that 60% of the people purchasing from Alchemist Farm during the pandemic were first-time chicken keepers. "People want to have a more self-sufficient lifestyle that gets them outside and away from screens, and everyone is seeing the instability of our food systems right now," she says. "People are looking for more depth in their life."

The link between social upheaval and the urge to grow our own food is nothing new. The 2008 financial downturn prompted a huge increase in urban homesteading, and a similar pattern played out during the 1960s and ’70s, and World War I and II. But the combination of more time at home and food supply chain disruptions have made chicken-keeping uniquely appealing during the current crisis. Here in the Bay Area, we have a long history with poultry. Before WWII, Sonoma County was a major chicken hub, and Petaluma was once known as the Egg Capital of the World.

Biofuel Oasis, a cooperatively owned urban farming store and biofuel gas station in Berkeley, also saw a flood of interest in chickens as shelter-in-place went into effect. "We had such a high demand that we had to double the number of chicks we ordered," says worker-owner Kelsey Howard. "We wanted more, but the hatcheries were sold out. We had to wait-list a bunch of people. It was kind of crazy."

He estimates that 75% of their chick purchasers were new to keeping chickens. The nationwide demand for COVID chickens also affected the availability of supplies and equipment. "As soon as shelter-in-place happened, we sold out of chicken feed," Howard says. Sales of chicken heaters and waterers also jumped 500%, and many of Biofuel's suppliers were running out of equipment, so they had to find new suppliers.

The interest in backyard flocks shows no sign of abating. "Once school starts, the chicken interest usually dies down," Howard says. "But not this year. A couple of people just came in today looking for chicks." Most hatcheries stop selling chicks in the fall, so folks who want to start keeping chickens will likely need to wait until spring.

Howard says Biofuel Oasis’ worker-owners spend quite a bit of time educating new chicken keepers. "A lot of people don't realize that it takes four to six months for chickens to start laying," he says. "And although the hatchery will sex the chickens, some people don't understand that there's a 10% error rate, so they end up with roosters."

New chicken keeper Chris Barnes has one of those errors — a young rooster that crowed energetically during our telephone conversation. "We got chickens because of COVID. We had been talking about it for a while, but it made it easier since we were going to be home," he says.

The family started out with three chicks from Biofuel Oasis, but were seduced by photos of silkies, an adorably fuzzy chicken breed that looks like a ball of fluff with a silly Muppet-style crest (the breed has spawned social media hashtags like #silkiesofinstagram). So they drove to Stockton to pick up two silkie chicks. When another chicken keeper had to surrender her small flock due to arthritis, they added a couple more birds. "We ended up with seven when we only wanted three," Barnes says, laughing. "That's chicken math!"

The family is enjoying their flock's antics and eggs (several of their hens are laying), but the delicate health of his birds took Barnes by surprise. Chickens and other poultry are notorious for kicking the bucket unexpectedly. "They can catch everything," he says. "Birds, in general, are a little more high-maintenance that way." Barnes has lost two birds from unknown causes. Many seasoned chicken owners who have seen a bird keel over for no apparent reason can commiserate.

Also in the East Bay, Amy Griffith, a postpartum doula and nutritionist, was inspired by a neighbor's setup to start her own COVID flock. "My son Jamie just became totally enamored with their chickens," she says. "Their chickens have laid eggs already, which are totally delicious. And the yolks are almost red and have so much flavor! As a nutritionist, I love that."

With the help of friends, Griffith and her husband, Russ, built a coop and run for their flock of five. "It's been fun, but it's also a good metaphor for life — nothing is as easy as it looks on social media," she says. "It's not the easiest DIY project to make a stable coop that's rodent-proof. And then the chickens poop everywhere. It's hilarious. And chickens will destroy everything. We’re already seeing that — and they’re only a few weeks old!"

Griffith found that the new flock had unexpected benefits for her son, who was in kindergarten when his school shut down due to the pandemic. "Having chickens has lit up his learning," she says. "We saw in the first month of online learning that he was starting to hate it. But being outside, caring for the chickens, being in nature and moving his body changed everything. He does a lot of the chicken care, and it keeps him so busy and engaged. I really felt like getting the chickens saved our family culture emotionally."

Franchesca Duval has seen that same dynamic play out among customers who bought chicks from Alchemist Farm. "I’ve received letters from people about how important the birds are to them and to their kids who have been separated from their friends," she says. "The birds are so much more than just a simple chicken. They invite us into a whole new way of life and into this idea of less waste. That's so powerful."

Samantha Nobles-Block is a Bay Area freelance writer. Email: [email protected]