Responses to "City Chicks Revisited"

I am getting responses on "City Chicks Revisited" by email and from other groups. With permission, I will post a selection of these reactions and responses here. Some are too good not to share. And, if you haven't already, please sign our online petition.

My favorite, so far, is from Kelly McGuire:

In response, I can only say that council can be loud, produce large amounts of waste resulting in obnoxious odors too. Their containment is sometimes difficult as well. I really have a hard time believing the sublime attitudes.

Here is one from  ~: Beth California Sierra foothills:~ via a Yahoo Group called "Breaking New Ground:"

A backyard flock of chickens need NOT be noisy, messy or anything negative. A clean coop/area will not attract flies, rodents. And chickens are actually great at eating ticks and other bugs which means less pesticides being used. Noisy? Bantam breeds are less noisy and many cities simply allow hens but no roosters. Roosters are the one who make the noise. Feed kept in a metal container wont attract rodents etc. Heck dog/cat/bird feeder food outside can attract rodents etc. Is the city/town going to ban those? Heck raccoons are more attracted to garbage cans than anything else. Are they banning garbage cans/pick up? The late actor Jimmy Stewart and his wife Gloria are the ones who got us back having chickens in the early 80's, when he shared how they had chickens in their Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills home back yard. And if I do say so I think chickens make us better people. And yes you can quote me on that!

From Karen Anne Kirkpatrick  of the Facebook Group, "Backyard Chickens for Chesapeake:"

Can be loud, especially when playing.
Can produce large amounts of waste, resulting in obnoxious odors.
Waste in diapers fill our landfills.
Containment can sometimes be difficult.
Can be targeted as nuisances by other people, such as old people on the front lawn and college students texting on iphones....

  

Time to ban kids.

Another great response from Jack Newfield through the "Breaking New Ground" Yahoo Group:

>Can be loud
Hens are not loud and egg laying hens make no more noise than many automobiles. If egg-laying ducks are allowed, both sexes are very quiet.

>large amount of waste
No, there is far less odor from my 10 chickens than from my 3 dogs.

>Waste can attract rodents
So can an oak tree but that is allowed.

>Containment can be difficult
Containment is extremely simple. I don't contain mine at all and they do not range out of sight of their coop.

>Can be target of dogs
So can children and cats but they are allowed. It's the dog owner's fault if they are out of control. Cats do not attack hens.

So it's obvious they simply do not want to keep *low-status* animals in their neighborhoods. You'll find this with vegetable gardens too. Where flower gardens are permitted, vegetables are often prohibited because food is *low status* compared to flowers. Simple really.

The best way is the camel's-nose- in-the-tent approach, I believe. Get them to permit some eco thing that let's chickens in through the back door or get them to approve expensive show chickens and then buy ordinary hens and claim they are the same animal. It's all about status.