For 2 Cooperstown Families, Chickens Help Children Learn

By LIBBY CUDMORE•AllOTSEGO

With four white and brown chickens quietly clucking and pecking in a sun-dappled yard, you might think that you’re on a country farm at harvest time.

Nope – you’re in Cindy Falk’s backyard on Irish Hill.

“We knew people had raised chickens in the village,” said Falk, a CGP professor who is also a village trustee. “My daughter Elizabeth wanted some, so we went down to ask.”

In the City of Oneonta, raising chickens is banned, although there’s a push on to allow it. In Cooperstown, however, the Falks discovered no legal obstacle.

So, after looking into how much it would cost to raise chickens, they built a little henhouse and got some chickens – two white Silkie Bantams, Snowflake and Cupcake, and two Golden Comets, Nugget and Pip Pip.

“The eggs from Snowflake and Cupcake are really good,” Falk said. “They’re lighter, they whip up well. Fresh eggs are the biggest benefit (of chickens), and they help in the garden with pest control.”

And it’s a benefit she shares with the whole village. “Last year for the Harvest Fest” – the annual Community Dinner that was last Sunday, Sept. 28, this year – “we brought fresh deviled eggs,” she said. “And every year in the Halloween parade, Lizzie puts Snowflake and Cupcake in a baby stroller and walks them down Main Street.”

Matt and Kara Grady, co-owners of Stagecoach Coffee, are raising two chickens, Sandy and Ava, in their Elm Street backyard. “Matt always said he wanted to start a garden and get some chickens, something to help sustain our family,” she said. “We love cooking with our own eggs and teaching our kids how to take care of (the chickens).”

The chickens came from CCS kindergarten teacher Lisa Lippitt, who hatches the eggs every year with her pupils. But the chickens continue to be a learning experience for the Grady’s three children, Gavin, Lily and Kian, who are tasked with watering and feeding the brood, as well as gathering the eggs. “They each lay one a day,” she said. “But they’re blue and yellow, they’re different than the ones you get in the store.”

Among those acquired chickens were some roosters – village ordinance doesn’t allow them. “We made a big pot of chicken soup,” said Kara. “But we felt funny about it. They’re our pets.”

But it’s a chance, Kara said, to teach their children about sustainable agriculture. “We know what they’re eating and that they’re living happily,” she said.

The birds are quiet enough that the neighbors don’t mind. “We keep them penned up unless we’re around,” she said. “It’s about being respectful – but if one does escape, they call us and we go get it.”

“I wouldn’t mind having another,” said Matt. “They’re getting to the age where they’re starting to lay less, and I’d love to walk over to my neighbor’s and hand off a bunch of eggs.”