In the city the chickens must be kept in a clean environment, fed an adequate diet and given all the fresh pure water they will drink. These precautions ensure healthy animals. Flies which are attracted to the ammonia in chicken wastes are put to good use. They are captured in traps and fed to the hens. Some studies have shown that at least a quarter of a chicken's diet can be flies, another half weeds and other plant wastes, and their egg laying will still continue to equal that of chickens raised entirely on commercial feed.
Chicken manure is extremely rich in nitrogen which is needed in all plant life.
It makes an excellent addition to the compost pile, which in turn helps produce better vegetables. The inhabitants of a house in the city of Berkeley, California, who raise chickens, slaughter one per week in their backyard, yielding 16 ounces of meat. They estimate a production cost of 35 cents per pound. Their layers produce approximately 30 eggs per week at an estimated 40 cents per dozen. Before chicken raising can become legal in Vancouver, it is necessary to begin a calm, intelligent exchange of information between those who are convinced that chickens have a place in the city and those who are not.