mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- Doug Brown's favorite thing to do at the end of a busy day is to get a cold bottle of beer and sit in his yard watching his chickens.
Brown, the owner of Fowl Attitude Farm in Cedar Grove, raises about 500 chickens in a sustainable, environmentally friendly enterprise.
At SEEDS' Educational Garden on Gilbert Street, Brown gave a talk Saturday on how to raise chickens in an urban setting and ensure that they are healthy and lay good eggs.
"How they live and what they eat dictate how good the eggs are going to be," Brown said. "They like to perch, to roost. They like to flap their wings and run around. You need to provide that for your birds."
The talk was part of Whole Foods and Carolina Farm Stewardship Association's fourth annual Eastern Triangle Farm Tour, which took visitors to 20 farms, vineyards and talks, many of which aren't usually open to the public.
Destinations included Hilltop Farm, a 300-year-old farm in Willow Springs and wine tasting at the Vineyards at Southpoint, a winery in Apex.
Brown gave advice on everything from what kind of chickens to get, to their feed, to the amount of space they need to roam about.
If you raise dogs with chickens, they'll know instinctively to protect them, he said. As for feed, he supplements store-bought feed (with no added medications) with corn, wheat and soy beans.
He also keeps his chickens healthy by being careful whom he lets on his farm and keeping his boots clean -- to prevent diseases from being transplanted from other farms.
Brown runs his farm mostly as a hobby and just breaks even. He sells his hens' eggs to local restaurants, including Toast, Magnolia Grill and Watts Grocery.
"They sell themselves," he said. "They have flavor. The yolk is a deep orange."
Hope and Kim Durack came to the talk on Saturday because they're considering getting three or four chickens to raise on their property in the downtown area.
"We've always been interested," Hope Durack said, having grown up with parents who had two chickens. "It's been in the back of our minds."
Kate DeMayo, a campaign manager for Carolina Farm Stewardship, said more people have been interested in growing their own vegetables, as well as raising their own chickens.
"I think more people are starting to realize they want healthy, local food," she said.
The farm tour continues today. For more information, go to www.carolinafarmstewards.org. Tickets are $25 each.
