CLIPBOARD : SINGING HEN CHICKEN RANCH

Talk about your humble beginnings.

The story of the Singing Hen Egg Ranch begins in 1955 with 800 chicks, 2 1/2 acres and a vision. By the mid-’60s it had exploded into a five-ranch operation in three counties with close to 100,000 laying hens, hundreds of employees, a processing plant and wholesale and retail outlets.

But then the developers came in the mid- to late-’60s, bought up the surrounding farms and ranches, built tract homes on the property and sold the houses to unsuspecting buyers, promising them as they signed on the bottom line that “that chicken farm won’t be there long.”

But ranch owner Cal Meekhof didn’t want out of that chicken outfit.

And his hand-made sign, strategically placed within clear eyeshot of an adjacent subdivision, pointed out his determination to stay: “THIS CHICKEN RANCH IS NOT SOLD OR MOVING!”

“We fought the battle,” said Meekhof, 65. “We were the last chicken ranch to close in Orange County.”

Even though it was a case of “which came first? The chicken ranch or the tract homes,” an accumulation of new zoning ordinances, health regulations and lawsuits brought by homeowners who moved next door to the ranch and then complained of “farm smells” finally curtailed the ranch’s full-scale operations. The processing plant and the chickens finally flew the coop in 1976.

But the Singing Hen Egg Ranch is not closed. Today Meekhof runs his scaled-down chicken ranch/drive-through store with son-in-law Tom Mitchell. It stubbornly hangs on to its profitable, sometimes hassled existence on busy Walker Street in Cypress.

“I don’t think the city quite knows what to do with us,” says Meekhof, laughing. “Every once in a while they’ll come and tell us something is not up to code, but we were here before the city was even incorporated, so we’re protected by a grandfather clause.”

“Not up to code” includes the old-fashion wooden sign cut in the shape of a huge chicken and various other oddities on the ranch that underscore the difference between 1950s architecture and 1970s urban planning.

While they may no longer have 40,000 chickens, the ranch still has about a dozen feathery, feisty hens laying a bounty of eggs. Locals and aficionados who have a thing for just-laid, still-warm eggs appreciate the effort.

There is always a steady stream of cars and loyal customers who frequent the brick red-painted structure. The store also stocks small items such as sodas, chips, sugar, flour, peanut butter and assorted milk products. But it’s the fresh eggs--rarely more than four days old and priced 20% below retail stores to boot--that are the ranch’s trademark. That and not having to get out of the car to shop.

“We’ve been blessed to be able to keep our customers,” said Meekhof.

“I think our customers just appreciate our old-fashioned approach to healthy eating without having to pay today’s high prices,” added Mitchell.

Hours: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; closed Sunday

Address: 9731 Walker St., Cypress

Telephone: (714) 826-9494