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Column – Laissez Fowl
Posted on Nov 14, 2009 by Todd Dorman.
You say “backyard chicken” and I say “grab some barbecue sauce and a pint of potato salad.”
But that’s not what Citizens for Legalization of Urban Chickens, or CLUC, is talking about. They’re Cedar Rapids residents who want the City Council to allow them to raise a few living, egg-laying chickens in their backyards.
CLUC, in case you didn’t know, is only one small battalion in a national poultry putsch. People in cities all across the nation are asking for permission to raise backyard chickens. Anxiety over food safety, revulsion over food processing and a recessionary streak of self-reliance has plopped fresh eggs on many a city council’s plate.
So far, the Cedar Rapids council isn’t saying much. It’s hardly a top priority. But it is a fascinating study in government.
In every community, government wields power on behalf of a conformity majority. And often that’s a good thing. I can’t turn my front yard into an auto salvage lot or raise longhorn cattle in my garage or operate a coal-fired manure thrower while listening to Metallica at 120 decibels at 4 a.m. We expect everyone to live by some rules to keep things orderly.
But government must be careful not to go too far. Most of us would hate to see laws that required every house in town to be white, fronted by four symmetrical bushes and adorned with one regulation concrete gnome. Too much conformity.
In the middle of this tug of war between government and a desire for sameness is a gray area inhabited by people who want to do things just a little differently, who have slightly different take on the pursuit of happiness. And boy, do those people get under some people’s skin. That’s where, I think, CLUC finds itself.
I tend to root for those quirky grays. And on this issue, I’m laissez-fowl. All I’m saying, at the risk of having egg on my face later, is give chickens a chance. Pass a small-scale poultry pilot and see what happens.
I lived in Ames, which allows chickens, for six years. There was a coop down the street, and other than fascinating my kids, I saw no real impact. Judy Parks, assistant city attorney in Ames, says her department has received zero complaints. Dogs, yes. Chickens, no.
Still, neighborliness counts. I think any ordinance that allows chickens should require consent from neighbors. I have a feeling some friendly explanation and a promise of free eggs would go a long way.
Just think, neighbors talking to neighbors, solving problems. Heck, barbecues might even break out.
Comments: (319) 398-8452; todd.dorman@gazcomm.com
If you want to farm, live on a farm. Why have chickens in the middle of the city. As for the city, they should focus on something more important – like fixing the flood zone or the roads.
Maybe some of us aren't flooded out and need to live as well….
Some of us who want to pass this would LOVE to live in the country or on a farm. The unfortunate reality is that all the good rural property anywhere near the city is much higher priced due to demand by people who probably have no interest in raising chickens or farming and would probably object just as loudly to new neighbours wanting to do so.
Most I assume are just plain stuck where we are due to the housing market. I have been trying for over a year to sell and finally gave up. (I couldn't even get a low short-sale offer.) I would love to oblige opponents by moving to the country to raise a few chickens, any serious offers of trade now being accepted but I'm not going to hold my breath!
You don't know how tired I am of this worn-out, totally worthless argument (just move, like its so easy to do.). Just as bad as "because I said so", totally pointless.
(First post didn't seem to take so sorry if this becomes redundant)
I really HATE this argument, its like the excuse "because I said so". Most of us can't afford to move to the country to raise chickens because of the city dwellers that want to live out of the city but don't really want these animals around them either. I have tried for over a year to sell my house, even at a loss, so I could move to a better place for my family and be better able to provide safer foods for them.
This really is a non-issue when you look at the benefits vs. problems of chickens compared to cats, dogs and other more common pets that are allowed.
If you want me to move to a farm then by all means, respond to me and let me know your intent to help me out by buying or trading my property for one more suitable. I welcome offers with open arms but not I'm not going to hold my breath…
Fair enough – a fair response to my trite comment. Maybe a better way of stating it is that when you decide to move to the city, you know that backyard chickens are not allowed. Conversely, I moved to where I did in the city knowing that there won't be chickens next door to me.
Personally, my main gripe here is that it's changing the rules after the fact, making for a situation that could affect my property (a chicken coop in my neighbor's backyard will affect my property value). I have no doubt there are people around here who could handle backyard chickens. But, there are plenty that might end up making a big pit in their backyard, which affects a neighborhood. I just don't buy the whole statement that chickens will be easy to manage and that all chicken-owners will keep a clean and well-kept back yard. They may not be "hard" to manage when compared to say, a cow, but aren't simple either. And when someone does end up over their heads, it will affect the whole neighborhood. Your response to me makes it seem that I'm imposing my values on you, but in a city where neighborhoods affect all involved, you may be imposing your beliefs on me more than you think.
Des Moines allows chickens (no roosters and a limited number of hens). It doesn't cause problems, and some people enjoy raising their own eggs.
Incidentally, Jill Richardson of La Vida Locavore is pushing for the city of San Diego to allow urban chickens. Here are some of the benefits she describes:
1. They are social animals and relatively docile, fun pets.
2. They provide eggs that, depending on the birds' diet, may have more vitamins, better fats, and less cholesterol than store-bought eggs.
3. They eat waste products like bugs, weeds, and kitchen scraps.
4. Their droppings provide valuable fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, preventing the need for petroleum-based commercial fertilizer.
Why not say "hens in the city," rather than "chickens?" I wouldn't mind the "cluck, cluck, cluck" of a half dozen hens, but I don't want to be awakened at the crack of dawn by a "cock-a-doodle-do." I wouldn't raise them myself … heck, I hardly buy two dozen eggs per year … but if the neighbor on one side can have a Yapshire Terror, and the ones on the other side have two cats that are allowed to roam freely, what more harm can we have in the neighborhood but hens? The cost would probably be less than dog food and cat food (although the cats eat my sparrows and chipmunks) … it'd most likely be just chicken feed.
Roosters would not be allowed, per ordinance. I feel that dogs [as much as I love'em] are more of a "nuisance animal" than chickens would be. I know there have been days where I could not enjoy sitting in my garden becasue of the smell from all the neighbors dogs, when they don't clean up after them. [I am literally surrounded] Composted chicken manure would leave no oder, and the benefits of organic eggs are great.
I hope they pass it.
Freedom to raise a few hens in your own backyard? Why is that even an issue? Let them have chickens. If there's a problem with your neighbor's animals, talk to them or call animal control. We already have animal control regulations in place and people to enforce them. No worries. Fort Collins, CO did this and in the past year, only 6 of 14000 complaints to animal control were for chickens, SIX. Check out CLUC's facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/pages/...
If you want chickens have them but, here is what I learned on the farm about chickens.
Farm Animals are work. They have to come 1st over everything else in your life, even when you go out of town & when it's 20 below 0. Someone has to take care of them.
Cats and dogs will kill them just for fun.
They will attract racoons & other preditors who see an easy meal.
The droppings have to be shoveled from the chicken house and that is one of the most horrible jobs on the farm. Nobody wants to do it, so it sits until it's a huge stinking mess that some unlucky soul has to deal with.
I'll never take care of farm animals again, but if you want to that's your biz…
+1 for "I'll never take care of farm animals again, but if you want to that's your biz… "
Thanks for your honesty and support but I have to disagree a bit. I have also raised a small flock some years ago before I came back to CR. 5-6 chickens is not any worse than a large dog if you clean up after them like you would for your dog. The waste can go on your garden safely unlike a cat or dog. Also, they don't "attract" predators. They may get the attention of those already in the neighborhood but they certainly don't bring in new ones.
Now cleaning out a traditional henhouse that has 20-30 birds in it that hasn't been cleaned for awhile and little ventilation….. that certainly was NOT fun. Been there too.
It's only been in the last 50 years of human existence that chickens have been considered "farm" animals…and even that has been a Western phenomenon. The scale of chicken farming cannot be compared to a few hens in the backyard….the amount of poo is the same per pound, whether it's a chicken or dog..and chickens are much smaller than the average dog. We know it's work…I have kids. I know what 24×7 is all about. At least you know that hens won't keep you up at night or bite your kids. Heck, chickens are nesting animals so even if they get out and take a stroll around the neighborhood they'll still find their way back to the coop at night. It will be OK, I promise.
Please check out our facebook page and become a friend of CLUC! http://www.facebook.com/pages/CLUC-Citizens-for-t...
The proposal the CLUC group made to City Council included a limited provision of 50 permits; people who do not have enough room to garden in their own back yard can rent a community plot in one of the City Parks, just look at Ellis. Why not do something similar with open land in one of the city parks? I suggest Bever Park, the Ducks are already out there. Put the 50 chicken raisers in that open area just up (north) from the swimming pool, where Dale Todd fixed the drainage issue a few years back – have the chickens along that fence row next to the houses on 30th St SE
Remember what happened to the ducks in Bever Park? I'd rather the people who want hens keep them on their own property. At least they'd have a sense of ownership and the hens would be safe from two-legged predators.
Those were two or three nut jobs – one of whom recently repented for seeing the error of his ways. In a couple of the neighborhoods in this town humans are not safe in their own homes from two legged predatorswhat makes you think your precious hens would be safe in your back yard? Oh yeah, the first time anything suspicious happens – human or otherwise – you and your self absorbed fellow cluckers are going to speed dial 911 and expect the Cops to spend time solving the "great chicken massacare" or mediate disputes between you and your neighbors over Chicken S**T – literally. From firsthand experience, sworn law enforcement officers in this town have better things to do.
We'd like to keep the debate for this request grounded in fact and supported by data and examples. Arguments based on childhood memories, fears and gut feelings are simply not compelling or supportable.
96, Thanks for your suggestion but keeping the hens in or near Bever Park would be like asking people to keep their dogs in kennels in Bever Park instead of in their yards
Hens: Quiter than dogs, less damaging than dogs and cats, less smelly than dogs or cats ponud for pound of waste (not an issue if you clean it up regularly as with other pets), waste is a useful product safe and desireable for the garden.
They naturally keep pest insects in check (reduced chemical use) and provide sustainable food (eggs and meat). If you want to ban pest animals lets get rid of the annoying barking dogs and wildlife killing stray cats.
I love dogs and cats but if you are against chickens for the reasons most people state, then we have to address the issue of banning many other more common pets. What about pot-bellied pigs, aren't they allowed already? What about the pigeon racers? I have also heard of people having a pet goat although I am not sure of that. I wouldn't mind one of those either (for the milk) but definitely not enough room here.
I am accepting of some limitations but this is silly given the other, bigger cities that have approved them or never restricted them. In other developed parts of the world, trying to restrict them as we have would cause an overthrow of the government. Urban hens have a strong track record and should really be a non-issue.
Some people are just paranoid or like to complain/start trouble and resist change of any sort.
Thanks to Mr. Dorman for this interesting analysis backyard hens. I especially agree with his thinking that backyard hens have great potential to be an engaging activity that will promote discourse between neighbors, particularly neighbors with children. My only concern with this is his suggestion that a person should need to have each and every neighbor agree to it before they could go forward. This seems like a pretty high hurdle considering someone can get a large dog with no input from their neighbors, and hens have such an extremely small potential to impact a neighbor.
The city already has regulations in place to resolve issues of hens potentially becoming a nuisance to neighbors, and in town after town that considers backyard hens we see this same pattern of initial concerns of how hens will impact neighborhood relations, but time an time again the concerns are shown to be unfounded and back yard hens end up creating no significant turmoil between neighbors.
Thanks again, Mr. Dorman, I enjoyed the read.
Good post, and a point I overlooked myself is the neighbor agreement..i agree with you there also.
Agreed. A "trial" where all the neighbor's agree and are unlikely to complain is hardly a trial…I believe that folks will be pleased and surprised at the lack of issues that will arrive from keeping hens in the backyard. I think that Cedar Rapids should give us all a fair shake and let us conduct a true and impartial trial.
iowafoodgeek;
Is that how you would treat me if I was your neighbor and had a legitimate complaint about your back yard or front yard chickens?
Who in the world would put chickens in their front yard? That's hilarious! I love my neighbors. They are lovely people. You can't see my backyard unless you are invited in.
According to sources, 90% of the dogs in CR are just chained to their dog houses, are not watered and feed properly less alone given enough attention and exercise. The chickens may end up the same way and then what about the possibility of creating diseases. Animals in their natural habitat are less likely to spread disease unless it is a plague or something else. Chickens in unclean chicken coops, side by side, house by house, may not be healthy for kids or the community.
The ENTIRE city of Fort Collins issued 36 permits for folks to have backyard hens. There's no valid argument for "side by side." I doubt we'll have 50 homes in Cedar Rapids interested in raising hens if we do the pilot program. If you are concerned about diseases, you should probably start worrying about the big factory chicken farms that we have so many of here in Iowa. That's where the smell/disease/problems come from. Remember the article a few weeks back about grinding up the male chicks at a hatchery in Iowa? Now that's something to get upset about. A few hens in the back yards of those of us who are strange enough to be interested in pursuing such a thing will not make an impact on your life. Also, there's no such thing as a wild chicken, so I guess that would mean that their "natural habitat" would be my back yard.
That may be true that a person can envision a scenario in which many backyard hens not kept properly could create a health hazard. Since hens are allowed in many cities across the US though, I think that it is more useful to look at the reality of the situation, instead of hypothetical imaginings. If this is an issue of concern to anyone I highly recommend that they look at any city that has legalized backyard hens. I guarantee you will find that it has gone extremely well, and definitely has not brought health concerns into communities. Remember most people are doing this to produce food for their own family, and are extremely concerned about proper sanitation.
Most of the people who take issue with backyard hens are the reactionary sort and won't bother to do any sort of research on the issue. Most simply reply out of fear, ignorance or a negative personal experience from their past such as being raised with lots of chickens and being forced to clean the coops. They won't listen to the reasonable rationale presented by those trying to do something to improve their own lives. They seem to think we are all going to be hicks with chickens and junk cars littering our shacks' yard and ruining their property value. The way I see it, we are actually investing in our property and lives and improving them which also strengthens our community.
I agree with you 100%, it's like they have this image of a Ma n Pa Kettle stuck in their head. I would love to have chicken manure to add to my compost. Not to mention fresh eggs, there is such a difference! The shells are so much thicker, and well, they just taste…"eggier" lol. Once again- I hope this passes
Sources? What sources? It's my bet that if we keep this about facts and data that the nay-sayers will not have a case.
What a great article! Those I have run into interested in raising some hens and receiving fresh eggs aren't the type to ignore their chickens. They are owning them for a purpose. Not because everyone else has them and they think they need one too (like many dog owners) Please don't hate me for that comment, as I own a dog and love them myself. I just don't see people getting chickens for the fun of it then ignoring them when they see the work and time it involves. Getting all neighbors to agree, unlikely. Can't please all the people all of the time, but you can please some of them some of the time! Good luck CLUC!!! I'm sure the new council and mayor will have very open opinions and listen to all sides of the issue. This is my vote of confidence and a test for them.
We are nearing a time when cheap food is not going to be cheap any longer, this is a way to bring a little production to what normally produces nothing in terms of food, the backyard. Other than the ocassional garden, which in itself produces plenty of extra food for chickens, our tiny bits of land produce nothing but grass we have to mow. There have been no evidence of other cities having problems with allowing chickens, so stop thinking of a few cluckers in the backyard as turning the neighborhood into a factory farm or something, it is a harmless situation and probably better than most pets we currentl allow.
Would take chickens any day rather than the fenced in Beagle next door. She barks ( No howels 24/7)
She's pro'bly a liberal, Si
LOL.
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