New Bern resident touts home egg production

Pat Chylko is raising a flock of chickens in the backyard of her New Bern home since she has an interest in homegrown eggs, and because she thinks it’s fun.

She can keep her eight hens of varying shapes and sizes behind her Spencer Avenue home, although she must abide by a city ordinance that deems it unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any quantity of animals or poultry that results in “noxious or offensive odors, or loud and disagreeable noises,” said Veronica Mattocks, city clerk.

The hens, which are named Sarah, Christine, Rosie, Ava, Goldie, Ginger, Lil’ Bit, and Roxie, are kept inside an approximately 15-foot-long by 6-foot-wide coop on Chylko’s quarter-acre lot. They bed down at night in a house built by Chylko’s husband, Lee, and are treated like pets.

 “When I found out they were allowed in New Bern, I thought, why not?” she said.

Egg production has risen in the public eye following the recall of shell eggs from two Iowa companies this month, although there is no evidence that the recalled shell eggs from them were distributed in North Carolina, according to a N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services news release.

Brian Long, the department’s director of public affairs, said the department had additional word on Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that there’s “no hint of any of those eggs” in this state.

For Chylko, part of her interest in raising a backyard flock is so she can control her chickens’ care, and since she said it puts her closer to the production of her own food.

“If our chickens get sick, we notice it,” she said. “We watch them every day.”

Long said there’s always a potential for bacteria when dealing with animals, which is why all food producers should practice good handling and preparation techniques.

 “I don’t know that there is any greater risk, or lesser risk, based on the size of an operation,” he said. “If you’re practicing good bio-security, if you’re making sure that rodents aren’t getting into your feed for your birds…If those things are being done, then you should have a good quality egg that comes out of that.”

Anne Edwards, a Carteret County extension agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension, said in general, backyard chickens are treated like pets, and are raised in small numbers with lots of air and sunshine and are often given fresh bedding.

“All of those things, it definitely gives you healthy chickens and the healthier the chickens, the less problems you have with the overall concerns regarding their eggs,” she said.

Dan Ragan, director of the Food & Drug Protection Division of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said that at the state level, inspection of backyard flock eggs are done only on a complaint basis. One inspector does those as well as routine inspections of industry-level egg producers. The inspector came under the division starting July 1, he said. Previously there were four inspectors.

Long added that he believes home production of food is a commitment, and home growers and producers should “give it some thought and research” first.

“It’s definitely a commitment, it’s not something that you would, I don’t think you should necessarily (be) doing it on a lark,” he said.

John Lyons, a New Bern resident with a flock of 31 chickens, said he’s been eating eggs from his flock for two and a half years. He said he’s never gotten sick from them.

“I love them,” he said. “You ever had fresh chicken eggs?”

Laura Oleniacz can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at loleniacz@freedomenc.com.

The Egg Recall, North Carolina, and You

♦ There is no evidence that shell eggs recalled by the Iowa companies Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms were distributed in the state, according to a news release from the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  Brian Long, public affairs director for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, also said that he is not aware of any recalls in the close to seven years he’s been in his role that involved North Carolina egg producers. For more information on the recalls, go to the website http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/MajorProductRecalls/ucm223522.htm

♦ The state was ranked 13th in the nation in egg production on the industry scale, said Jan Kelly, executive director of the Cary-based N.C. Egg Association, quoting U.S. Department of Agriculture data that she said was from 2009.

♦ Anne Edwards, a Carteret County extension agent with N.C. Cooperative Extension, advised home egg producers that eggs need to be collected preferably twice a day, and refrigerated at temperatures of 45 degrees or cooler. She said the eggs should not be cleaned with water, but instead should be wiped down with a dry paper towel, a brush or sand paper. “Usually if you’re got a healthy coop and clean eggs, then you’re in pretty good shape,” she said.