Idaho Author Produces New Book on the National Backyard Chicken Movement

Peek over your neighbor’s fence and chances are you’ll see chickens. The backyard chicken movement is fueled by the growing emphasis on eating fresh and local. Consumers want to know from where their food comes. As a result, more and more Americans are raising chickens, effectively reducing their carbon footprint.

Gretchen Anderson at author Elaine Ambrose's
'Write By the River' Writer's Retreat

Idaho author, Gretchen Anderson, has chronicled the stories of why people are so keen on these birds and how communities are “taking on city hall” for the right to keep a few simple birds, in The Backyard Chicken Fight (Mill Park Publishing/2011).

The Backyard Chicken Fight is available on Amazon.com. It chronicles how keeping chickens in your yard is ruffling feathers across the country. Plus, there is a beginner's guide, with advice from national chicken expert, Mike “The Chicken Man” Stanton. “Simply said, the man knows his chickens and has delighted in poultry all his life," says Anderson. "He ‘gets’ what so many people are now just discovering.”

Anderson also talked with urban chicken farmers from around the country. Some of them keep hens on the sly—hoping their local municipalities will change current ordinances; many of them are embroiled in their own chicken fight. Others are happily and legally keeping backyard flocks and telling their stories. They benefit from a bounty of eggs, abundant organic fertilizer and natural pest control. Chicken keepers will also admit that the quirky birds provide hours of entertainment, companionship and pleasure.

Gretchen Anderson, award-winning humor columnist (Idaho’s Independent newspaper), is available for author interviews away from—or in her backyard, where she keeps her own little flock.

Anderson will be appearing at the Garden Valley District Library, on Thursday, July 21, at 7:00 p.m., to discuss her book, her chickens, and to make you laugh. Join the Garden Valley Syringa Club and Garden Valley Friends of the Library for an enjoyable evening with this funny lady. Refreshments will be served afterwards, during her book signing. There is no charge for this event.