Bother The Birds

Salchow the hen has been trained to make small flying leaps for food, says owner Lisa Ewing (right). Kendra Hellweg offers the bird a perch.

The chirping of 70 of the cutest, fluffiest chicks you ever saw filled Pistils Nursery last Tuesday. Customers in the store on Northeast Mississippi Avenue took turns cooing over the newborn birds.

Two days later, the store was quiet again. All of the chicks had been sold.

The slow economy has egged on Portlanders' already strong do-it-yourself mentality and created an unprecedented demand for chickens, as more urbanites discover the benefits of companion animals that produce free breakfast.

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