'Mother Clucker': Raising chickens a thriving trend since Baltimore County passed bill last February

BALTIMORE -- After Jodi Litchfield lost her job during the pandemic, she had to wing it with a new plan.

"With our own chickens, I started to get really excited about the details of chickens, the health side of chickens, and how to take care of them properly," Litchfield said. "I started to educate myself. And my husband said other people need this education."

So they hatched an idea; "Mother Clucker's Mobile Chicken Wellness Spa."

"Our No. 1 response when people ask us what we do is... What?," Litchfield said. "They can't believe it! And sometimes we can't either!"

Their business services all of Maryland, plus parts of West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. They clean coops, educate people, and sell chicken-related products.

"We're giving people the opportunity to have such a joyful journey with raising chickens," Litchfield said.

Raising chickens became a trend during the pandemic.

"When COVID happened, everybody was home, and it became a family thing," Litchfield said. "It's also driven by the trend of knowing where our food comes from. Self-sustainability and micro home-steading is becoming a really big thing."

She's now busy getting coops ready for winter. 

WJZ tagged along as she visited an urban coop in Catonsville. Baltimore County passed a bill allowing backyard chickens in February.

"We saw a lot of Baltimore County residents just run... so to speak, flock.... they flocked off to the farm store and picked up as many chickens as they could," Litchfield said.

Sharon Greuter had wanted chickens for years, and helped get that bill passed. She had one of the first chicken coops in Baltimore County.

Her flock is now set up with extra bedding and protection from the wind.

"It's one of those things in life that has been better than expectations. It has exceeded expectations," she said.

Greuter's chickens are called Blue, Dooters, and So So.

"Most of my neighbors have no idea," Greuter said. "The only ones who know are the ones I give eggs to, so they love them."

She gets fresh eggs daily with a side of companionship.

"I come home and let them out to run around the yard and I just sit and watch them. They're hilarious," Greuter said. "They all have their own personalities. They're so much fun. They'll come eat out of your hand. They're very calming," Greuter says. "It's my form of meditation, watching my chickens."

Thanks to the spike in backyard chicken keeping, Mother Clucker's Mobile Chicken Wellness Spa is thriving. They have almost 70 clients and are adding more every day. 

They've gotten inquiries from as far as Massachusetts, and need to hire more team members.

"We love it. It's honestly one of my biggest passions I didn't know was in there," Litchfield said. "It's not work if you love it."

Putting all her eggs in one basket worked out. 

For more information, visit their Facebook page.