Backyard chickens: WWI-era solution to almost everything
Over the course of the past six or eight decades, certain things have come to define, in part, our modern existence: Making a living out of your home has been increasingly restricted, especially in predominantly residential areas; the production of goods has fallen to fewer and larger hands; and we’re now seeing the rise of what some call the helpless generation, with their legion of helicopter parents herding them about.
Now contrast that reality with this USDA poster from just under a century ago, courtesy of online foodsteaders The Icebox Chronicles. In a simple, pragmatic way, the Fed somehow manages to address personal food security, childhood responsibility (the picture even shows them doing all the work), recreation, income potential, and patriotic duty all with a simple plea for backyard chickens.
But times have changed, you say. Today we live in a modern, convenience-driven world. That’s fine, but are we so comfortably detached from the basic workings of nature that we’re now compelled to greet the prospect of a neighboring chicken (not even a rooster!) as though it were a landfill? Or a sex offender? (Like this, or this, or this, or this, or this, or ….)
There’s absolutely nothing revolutionary about a chicken. It’s pretty much a cat with wings that pays you back in food and fertilizer. Which makes me wonder how something so simple, something once promoted by the US government as an easy, self-managed balm for a host of domestic (and national) challenges is now, less than a century later, a growing source of community angst.
They’re fine. They’re harmless. And they’re a helluva lot quieter than a leaf blower.
Get over it.
Scott Doyon is principal, director of client marketing services with Placemakers, a planning, coding, marketing, and implementation firm. This article was also published on PlaceShakers and NewsMakers.
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Comments
Quiet roosters?
A couple of years ago I stopped at an open house on a Sunday afternoon, not too far from $3M homes on an urban lake. The owners of this modest home and I talked loudly over the constant crowing of a rooster - a group of neighbors raise chickens. The homes under the approach pattern for the international airport may be a better bet.
The bill is for laying hens, not roosters.
Learn more about what you're against.
Cat with wings or rat with
Cat with wings or rat with wings?
You don't need roosters to get eggs
Trust me--we've got three (illegal) chickens on our 4,000 sf lot in Boston. They've never even been within earshot of a rooster and we get more eggs than we know what to do with. Many ordinances prohibit the keeping of roosters, a totally appropriate restriction in an urban environment.
Now if I could just figure out how to get my kids to do all the chicken chores and coop maintenance....
Providence Allows Four Chickens
Raising a rooster is still illegal within the Providence, RI city limits, but homeowners are now allowed to have up to four hens. We have a neighbor who keeps them. Hens are quiet, roosters aren't. Dogs sure aren't.
To raise hens legally, you have to petition the city council and get voters on your side.
Bend, Oregon Also Allows 4 Chickens
Bend, Oregon also allows up to 4 chickens (hens only, no roosters) on city lots that are at least 5,000 square feet in size. My wife and I have had 3 hens for a few years now. Here's a copy of the regulations:
Keeping Farm Animals.
The purpose of this section is to regulate the raising and breeding of farm animals on residential lots within the City of Bend. These activities are considered to be accessory uses subject to the following standards.1. Types of animals allowed.
a. One (1) horse shall have a corral or pasture with a usable area of at least 1 acre; and for
each additional horse, an additional 1/2 acre is required.
b. Cows, goats, sheep, swine or other livestock shall not be kept on any parcel or lot with
an area less than 5 acres.
c. No more than four (4) rabbits and/or chickens (hens only, no roosters) are permitted on
parcels and lots 5,000 square feet or greater.
2. Sanitation. Proper sanitation shall be maintained for all farm animals. Proper sanitation
includes:
a. Accumulation of waste prohibited
b. Odors resulting from the keeping of farm animals prohibited beyond property lines, and
c. storing all farm animal food in rodent-proof containers.
3. Fencing: All fencing shall be designed and constructed to confine all farm animals within the owner’s property.
4. Setbacks: All structures that house large farm animals shall be located a minimum of 25 feet from all existing adjacent residences and at least fifteen (15) feet from any interior or rear lot line.
Urban Agriculture
The City of Lacey just adopted an urban agriculture ordinance that provides the opportunity for urban chickens and other back yard urban agriculture activities with limitations designed to protect neighborhood quality. This is an important aspect of community sustainability and needs to be permitted within acceptable limits. It has been well recieved. Lacey's ordinance does not allow rosters because of potential noise issues and it provides for 1 chicken per 1000 square feet of lot area.
When Lacey crafted its ordinance, we used ideas from the City of Seattle and the City of Portland where both cities have allowed urban agriculture activities with provisions designed to allow the benifits of this activity while reducing potential impacts. Seattle even has information for perspective duck owners of which breds make the least noise and are considered the most urban compatible.
For information about Lacey's ordinance email dburns@ci.lacey.wa.us.
Urban Agriculture
Thanks for this, David.
My key point was this: Chickens are a perfectly reasonable addition to the backyard. No more intrusive or problematic than standard pets, and certainly less so than other activities homeowners routinely consider "normal" (such as leaf blowers or outdoor music or whatever).
Your point is a worthy complement: Like anything, reasonable boundaries are needed to ensure that freedom *for* homeowners does not impact others' freedom *from* obnoxious intrusions.
It's all about balance. The takeaway is that people should be free to do reasonable things within reasonable limits. And a handful of backyard chickens certainly qualifies.
Thanks again.
Jackson County Considering Changing Their Rules
I just skimmed the November 1, 2011 Mail Tribune article entitled "Running A-Foul of the Law" that was included as one of the links in Scott Doyon's original blog post. It looks like the Jackson County Commissioners are now considering a change to their rules. See the article in today's edition of the Mail Tribune entitled "Ordinance Really Gets Their Goat": http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111107/NEWS/111070306