Woman encouraging more Pittsburghers to raise their own chickens, eggs

PITTSBURGH — Imagine instead of going to a grocery store, being able to go right into your backyard and pick up your eggs. Jody Choder said her chicks lay about six eggs a day.

“Everybody is very excited about the blue eggs. Some also lay bigger eggs than others, but they are all from my gang,” said Jody Choder, who helps run Pittsburgh Pro-Poultry People.

White, brown, blue, big, or small; every morning Jody Choder wakes up to freshly laid eggs because she’s turned her Highland Park backyard into an urban chicken farm.

“In their prime, they lay about every 24-27 hours you get an egg,” Choder said.

And with the cost of eggs fluctuating Choder said it’s a trend that has recently become more popular.

She shared that she began raising chickens in 2010 before zoning laws were expanded. Now, in the City of Pittsburgh, residents can keep up to five chickens as long as they have a 2,000 sq. foot lot and a permit, and more if they have more space.

The updated Urban Agriculture Zoning Code now makes it easier for city residents to keep honey bees, chickens, ducks, and goats.

Permitting the following:

• Keeping up to 5 chickens or ducks with 2,000 sq. ft or more of land (this includes the footprint of the home), and for each additional 1,000 square feet, you are permitted 1 more chicken or duck.
• The housing of up to 2 beehives with 2,000 sq. ft and a minimum of 10 feet from a neighboring property line; for each additional 2,000 sq. feet, you are permitted 2 additional beehives
• Keeping 2 miniature goats with 2,000 sq. ft of land; at 10,000 sq. feet, residents are permitted to keep 2 adult goats
• Sale of produce on vacant land with permission from the owner

For people in the city with much smaller yards, rental chicken coops that can fit up to two chickens are also available through programs like Rent the Chicken, which offers both the hens and the coops through the spring and summer months for a fee.

But Choder said it does take work; chickens cost about $2 and she spends about $50 a month on organic feed for her 13 chicks.

“Chickens can be a nuisance if you don’t take care of them. They attract rodents and they can smell, like with anything, there’s give and take, they give you eggs,” Choder said.

For Choder though, it’s worth it - and she encourages more city farmers.

“I think people I think people are interested in like, learning about where their food comes from. I think people are interested in having safe food,” Choder said.

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