Chickens given roosts in urban backyards

California Web developer and business consultant Rob Ludlow gets laughs when he tells people his pets make him breakfast.

It’s no joke. Ludlow, his wife, Emily, and their two daughters have five egg-laying hens living in the backyard of their Bay Area home in Pleasant Hill, Calif. “Can your dog or cat claim the same?” Ludlow asks.


He is among the growing number of city dwellers across the country choosing chickens as pets