Backyard chickens dumped at animal shelters when hipsters can't cope with raising them

One shelter received 50 surrendered fowl in 2001 and 500 in 2012

Animal campaigners say thousands of shelters across US see same rise

They say many don't realise can be noisy, messy and expensive

People also don't realise chickens lay eggs for two years but live for 10



They've become a must-have for hipster city dwellers across America, providing garden decoration, endless free eggs and, above all, a great squawking point at parties.

But it turns out the growing trend for backyard chickens is not all it is clucked up to be, according to animal welfare campaigners.

They say urban fowl keepers from California to New York are dumping their unwanted birds on chicken shelters in their thousands after becoming overwhelmed by their demanding care requirements.

Not all it's clucked up to be: |Many people do not realise quite how much work is involved in looking after a flock of chickens, saying they can be noisy, messy, labor-intensive and expensive

'Many areas with legalized hen-keeping are experiencing more and more of these birds coming in when they’re no longer wanted,' Paul Shapiro, of the Humane Society of the United States, told NBC News . 'You get some chicks and they’re very cute, but it’s not as though you can throw them out in the yard and not care for them.'

He said many people do not realise quite how much work is involved in looking after a flock of chickens, saying they can be noisy, messy, labor-intensive and expensive.



And it often comes as a shock to many that chickens only lay eggs for around two years but can live for as long as ten.

Squawking point: It often comes as a shock to many that chickens only lay eggs for around two years but can live for as long as ten

'It’s the stupid foodies,' said Mary Britton-Clouse, 60, who runs the Chicken Run Rescue in Minneapolis, Min . 'We’re just sick to death of it.'

Britton-Clouse has seen a steady rise in dumped birds from less than 50 in 2001 to almost 500 in 2012.

She blames the so0-called 'Lovacore' movement, which became popular in 2008 as proponents increasingly turned to home-grown food rather than stuffs sourced from abroad.



'People don’t know what they’re doing,' she added. 'And you’ve got this whole culture of people who don’t know what the hell they’re doing teaching every other idiot out there.'

It is a similar story at the Farm Sanctuary headquartered in Watkins Glen, N.Y.



Susie Coston, director of the national shelter which operates three shelters on two coasts says around 225 former backyard chickens are waiting for new homes.

She said they are among at least 400 to 500 abandoned chickens that arrive every year, many of whom suffer from severe illness or malnutrition.



'They’re put on Craigslist all the time when they don’t lay any more,' said Coston, 48. 'They’re dumped all the time.'

