Chickens The Entry-Level 'Drug' To Livestock Hoarding

There have been hundreds of cities that have changed their laws to allow backyard poultry. Show me just one city that now has a cow, goat, or pig problem because they decided to allow backyard poultry. I encourage you to back up your statements with some factual information instead of just your opinion.

My name is Andy Schneider, but most know me as the Chicken Whisperer. I'm the host of the nationally broadcast internet radio show, Backyard Poultry with the Chicken Whisperer. I'm the official spokesperson for the USDA-APHIS Bio-Security for Birds program. I'm a contributor for many publications including Mother Earth News and Grit Magazine. I'm the founder and organizer of the Atlanta Backyard Poultry Meetup Group which has grown to over 1,250 local members in just 2 1/2 years.

Time and time again I hear people complaining about the problems they think backyard chickens will bring if allowed into the backyards of their city. Some of the more common complaints that I hear are noise, smell, rodents, disease, and property values.

I don't think I have ever been to a meeting about keeping backyard chickens where the noise issue has not been brought up at least once. I often hear people complaining about the potential early morning crow of a nearby rooster. This is a very valid point and I too would be complaining if a rooster were waking me up every morning at 4:30am, especially if I did not have to wake up until 7:00am or later. There are many advantages of keeping backyard chickens, but most urban chicken keepers want to keep backyard chickens for the benefits of having an endless supply of farm fresh eggs. Solution? You do not need a rooster to enjoy farm fresh eggs every morning. In fact, hens will lay better if there is no rooster around to disturb their routine. In contrast from roosters, hens are very quiet and soundlessly sleep through the night. Roosters primarily have two jobs, which they do very well. They protect and fertilize. You only need a rooster if you want baby chicks running around in the backyard. I personally still hate to see cities ban roosters all together because there are ways to keep roosters in an urban area quietly and responsibly. When towns do allow roosters they still have far more complaints about barking dogs, loud music, and cars parked on the street and on lawns than they do roosters crowing.

Smell is another complaint that is often brought up when discussing chickens. Yes, chickens can smell just like dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, and even people if not taken care of properly. We are not talking about a 500-foot long commercial chicken house with 80,000 chickens next door. We are talking about six to twelve laying hens in a backyard setting. There are many ways to reduce the smell of your chicken coop so it will never create a problem. The key here is the number of chickens allowed. Try putting 200 people in your dining room and see what kind of problems you create vs. having 6 to 12 people in your dining room.

If you don't think that you have mice and rats outside your home right now, then you are living in a fantasy world. Many claim that keeping chickens will attract mice and rats and think they don't exist until the chickens arrive. Chickens themselves don't attract mice and rats. Mice and rats are attracted to a food and water source. A backyard chicken feeder is no different than a typical wild bird feeder when it comes to being a food source for mice and rats. A chicken waterer is also no different than an outside potted plant when it comes to being a water source for mice and rats. Are you banning bird feeders and potted plants because they are also a food and water source for mice and rats? Not to mention dog and cat bowls left outside.

About three years ago many were asking questions about the risks of avian influenza and keeping backyard chickens. I always refer them to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) website where it addresses this issue. On the Q&A page the following is posted. Question: We have a small flock of chickens. Is it safe to keep them? Answer: Yes, In the United States there is no need at present to remove a flock of chickens because of concerns regarding avian influenza. The U.S. Department of Agriculture monitors potential infection of poultry and poultry products by avian influenza viruses and other infectious disease agents. Enough said!

Many people who oppose the keeping of backyard chickens often sound off during meetings about decreased property values if the city allows the keeping of backyard chickens. All I can say is show me the proof. No one has ever shown up at a backyard chicken meeting that I have ever attended with any valid proof that someone received $10,000 less for their home because one of their neighbors kept backyard chickens, or the town they lived in allowed backyard chickens. Show me the proof!

I often hear city officials ask the question, "How will we enforce the keeping of backyard chickens?" If you take a good look at the laws and ordinances that are already in place, I'm willing to bet there are more than enough laws and ordinances on the books right now to enforce any problems that would ever come about by an irresponsible backyard chicken keeper. For example, What if a rooster is crowing at 4:00am? What if a Dog was barking at 4:00am or a neighbor was playing loud music at 4:00am? What if a chicken gets loose in the neighborhood? What if a dog gets loose in the neighborhood? You would at least not have to worry about the chicken mauling a little girl to death like you would with a vicious dog! What if the chicken run starts to smell? What if a dog pen starts to smell? What if a compost bin starts to smell? What if a resident's garbage starts to smell? You would address the chicken complaint just like any other complaint.

There are many advantages of keeping backyard chickens and they include but are not limited too...

1. Farm fresh eggs.

2. Insect control

3. Composting

4. Fertilizer

5. Pets

6. Education

In fact, chickens are environmentally friendly. They reduce the amount of green house gases depleting the ozone by reducing your food waste headed to the landfill. They replenish nutrients to our nutrient depleted soils. They reduce your need for chemical lawn fertilizers or pest controls and they create a local food source for families. Not to mention, chickens are much more entertaining than anything that comes on TV anymore.

To put backyard chickens into perspective I often tell people the following. On any given day I have more dog poop in my front yard from other neighbor's dogs then they have chicken poop in their front yard from my chickens. I have more cat prints on my car from other neighbor's cats then they have chicken prints on their car from my chickens. And I'm awakened at 2:00am more from other neighbor's dogs barking then they have ever been awakened at 2:00am from my sleeping hens.

Thank you,

The Chicken Whisperer

www.chickenwhisperer.com

CW: You're a Georgia person...you don't have a dog in this fight...

CW: Get over yourself.

Chicken Whisperer, I guess your post must be an automated response to every iGoogle search response you get to the word "chickens." I've gotten some similar, lengthy comments before regarding other topics I've written on.

I'm always suspicious when a comment to one of my blogs is more than double the length of the blog itself.

While your knee was apparently jerking so fast to get this response submitted, I guess you failed to read the name of this blog. It's "The Irony of it All." That's a hint to the tone and nature of most of my writing.

And by the way, I was raised on a farm and we had a couple dozen chickens. There was also a commercial chicken house across the road while I was growing up with about 20,000. I KNOW a little something about chickens.

Thanks for reading, I guess.

EVERYONE has a dog in the fight of rational thinking and FACTUAL debate.

Blog: Eh.

Comments: Absolute hilarity.

"Satire, the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/satire

"Irony, the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, 'How nice!' when I said I had to work all weekend."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/irony

Shhhhhh!!! The cows want you to "eat more chicken". Of course, the added benefit of chickens was never mentioned by this pro-egg crowd...that is, CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS...yum!!! How many Cape city folks will wring those chicken necks for a fresh hen in the pot, or pluck those feathers for a feather bed or pillow...What are they supposed to do with the carcasses - sure, chicken do die. You can't just throw a dead chicken in with your city trash! What about all the poop? - no one wants to compost chicken droppings....

The council plodded through the poultry proposal during open session for over 30 minutes. I'm sure it was discussed in both study and closed sessions and in former meetings and discussions. It made me recognize how lost many of the council members are. What a waste of time. Sure... we all might feel a little sorry for friendly Mr. Chickenlover, but think of the greater good, make a decision and get on with it. Limit it to a half dozen hens per acre with a half acre minimum and never more than a dozen. Your feathered friends have to be fenced 15 feet inside the boundary of you property line. DONE.

I will address your two chicken questions jacksonjazzman.

1. There is no reason why you can't throw a chicken carcass in the city trash. Thousands of chicken carcasses are put in the city trash every day from homes and restaurants. What do you think people do with their leftover rotisserie chickens they purchased from the grocery store deli? How about the thousands of turkey carcasses thrown out after Thanksgiving?

2. Many chicken owners do add the chicken poop to their existing compost bins. Some add the chicken poop to their gardens. Did you know that many people without backyard chickens purchase chicken poop from the garden store to spread around their plants, yards, and garden?. Some chicken owners may even collect the chicken poop daily and dispose of it in the city trash, just like the contents of a cat litter box or their child's dirty diaper full of human poop! Ever think about that? Yes, tons of human poop from babies ends up in the city trash every day!

Just some points to ponder...

Chicken Whisperer

No offense, but this article is full of cow patties, ironic or not.

If you don't want to legalize keeping chickens in your city, fine; but don't generalize to cities across the country who have been and are currently open to keeping chickens.

By your logic, no one should own cats, dogs, gerbils, or hamsters, because they too could succumb to animal hoarding. Ever see "Animal Hoarders" or "Hoarders"? They're primarily cats and dogs.

So throw those felines out the window too!!

By the way, speaking as a psychotherapist, the reason people hoard is to fulfill a deep-seeded need within; hoarding is a mental illness, not recreation.

Everyone needs to back off the Chicken Whisperer.

Voiceofsanity, I usually try to avoid all logic in my blogs. It is much more fun to be completely illogical.

That being said, I think the City Council was hasty in their decision and while the man who spearheaded the request may be a stellar operator of chicken coops, I believe a lot of people who might be interested in having "fresh eggs" won't be.

Considering that the city is already lackluster on policing existing ordinances -- such as my neighbor who has yet to finish an addition to their home even though the building permit expired in MARCH -- I think this will be one more ordinance that will never be policed unless a neighbor calls in to complain.

TFR

Great blog Brad. Worth reading!

rick...the chicken poop won't cure chapped lips, but it will keep you from licking them.

Had to come back and read this again, still laughing. Great fun.