BEVERLY — Sue Lupo and Naomi Astyk love their girls.
Out in their backyard, they tried to lure them onto the top of a small hill with a bowl full of lettuce and oatmeal with raisins — a favorite meal.
"When it was cold in the mornings in the winter, I used to make it for them," Lupo said.
Beatrice, Delores and Eunice are also fans of the bugs hiding in the grass and clucked contentedly as they roamed around the yard. Until recently, Althea was part of the brood, but she passed away a couple of weeks ago.
When they got the chickens two years ago, they also had Carla. But "Carla turned out to be Carl," and once he started crowing at 5 a.m., he was shipped to New York to live with Astyk's daughter.
The neighbors were surprisingly understanding.
"I thought the neighbors would be disturbed by us," said Astyk, who took some convincing to get a coop. "But everybody has been excited."
The other day Lupo saw a few boys lurking by her fence.
"I heard this one kid say, 'See, I told you they had chickens,'" she said. So she invited them over and began answering all those questions people have about raising poultry in the suburbs.
And they plan on answering more questions tomorrow, during a "chicken open house," where the public can see their girls, look at their coop and backyard setup, and get information about the permitting process and how to care for them.
"It's so easy to do," Lupo said. "I think people just need to be exposed to it."
They live in a small house off Cabot Street, with a decent-sized yard and other houses nearby. There's not quite enough room for a garden, but they have a community plot through Beverly Bootstraps and flower pots all around.
They might venture into Market Basket every now and then, but for the most part they try to eat the food they grow.
"For us, this was the next step toward being sustainable," Lupo said about the decision to get the chickens. "It's another way to be connected to your food."
Just to be clear, we're talking breakfast, not dinner. They don't slaughter them — although some people may choose to — but rather benefit from the eggs.
"Beatrice lays the biggest eggs," Lupo said. "They're delicious. They're so much better than what you buy in the supermarket."
They're also lower in cholesterol, and higher in omega-3 fatty acids, which are good for you, she said. The chickens lay eggs about every other day.
"For the two of us, it's enough," Lupo said. "I think I have eight in the fridge right now."
When they have enough eggs, they'll share them with the neighbors. Lupo also made sure to build an aesthetically pleasing coop. It's painted red, with a little window box blooming with purple flowers.
"I thought, if I'm going to have a coop, I want to make something nice for the neighbors," she said.
Keeping the abutters happy is probably the biggest challenge with raising chickens, Lupo said. Fortunately, they haven't had any problems, and families often bring over their leftovers, or simply stop by to say hi.
Knowing where their food comes from also gives them a certain piece of mind, especially when it comes to salmonella outbreaks and animal-borne illnesses like avian flu.
"I think we're better protected," Lupo said. "They're not getting antibiotics. They're not part of a factory farm. I think this is a big plus for so many reasons."
But all health and nutrition issues aside, raising chickens has grown into something fulfilling. They're pets, and a part of the family.
"It's more than just the eggs," Lupo said. "At first, it was the eggs. But now it's having them as part of our lives."
Staff writer Cate Lecuyer can be reached at clecuyer@salemnews.com.
If you go
What: Open house on raising chickens in an urban setting
When: Tomorrow, noon to 3 p.m.
Where: 10 Harrison Ave., Beverly
Cost: Free, and possibly the option of walking away with a baby chick or two
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