CityView Magazine

FEATURE Cluck a Doodle Do You're not seeing things. Those really are chickens in Haymount. A BY JENNY OWREN HANKINSON s drivers meander through the tree-lined streets of Haymount and VanStory Hills, they may see dog walkers, runners and even a Chick-fil-A cow van. They may do a double-take, however, and slow down to look at a few yards with roaming chickens. VanStory residents and Ramsey Street Chick-fil-A owners Bob and Shannon Bangs, own the cow print-painted minivan with the Chick-fil-A motto, "Eat Mor Chikin." The Bangs did not realize how possible that was, right in their own neigh- borhood. "We knew there was a horse in the neighborhood, but the only chickens we knew about are served at our restau- rant," Shannon Bangs said with a smile. Two VanStory Hills Elementary School fiſth graders hatched the idea to raise their own chickens. Glenn Cameron, who is 11 years old, turned an unfortunate (and sticky) situa- tion into another learning experience. Glenn, a beekeeper, was put out of business by black bears when they destroyed the five hives she kept at her grandparents' home in Cedar Creek. While she began the two-year wait to harvest honey from a new apiary, she and her father, Scott, turned their agricultural attention to raising chickens in their Haymount backyard. Around the same time Hannah Tatman, who is also 11 years old, convinced her father, Matthew, to help her raise chickens in their VanStory Hills subdivision. While Han- nah's mother, Andrea, and her 7-year-old brother Hunter also wanted chickens, Matthew, was skeptical at first. "When Andrea told me they wanted chickens, I looked at her like she had horns on her head," said Matthew, but aſter about a month, he gave in and agreed to get some chickens. Owning chickens is a process, with an initial cost of $300- $400. Buying materials for building the coop is the greatest expense. But, a $15 bag of Purina Crumbles will feed four to five chickens for one month and baby chickens, called bid- dies, are only about $2 a peep. The Tatmans warned against mail-order chickens and suggest buying them from a farm because the mail-order chicks their friends have ordered had oſten died. To clarify legal issues, Jennifer Lowe, Fayetteville's Pub- CityViewNC.com | 47

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