Chickens Are Educational
Chicken keeping offers suburban children the opportunity to learn where their food really comes from and about healthy, sustainable, nutritious food. They will see first hand how kitchen scraps become garden fertilizer which in turn produces beautiful vegetables. Instead of simply hearing, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” they will actually experience it. Suburban kids can participate in 4H or FFA programs through keeping chickens in a suburban yard.
Chickens and Emergency Preparedness
Many governments are asking community members to prepare for emergencies, whatever the cause. Many members of our community recently experienced firsthand the effects of an area wide emergency on food supplies. Backyard chickens provide a constant stream of fresh eggs without regard to the availability of electricity or refrigeration. Backyard hens will help our community be more food self‐sufficient under any circumstances.
Chickens and the Economic Crisis
The cost of food has risen dramatically lately, including the cost of high quality protein rich nutrient dense food such as pastured eggs. Pastured organic eggs cost approx. $4 a dozen. In comparison, four or five backyard hens will require a total of about $60 in feed each year and lay about 120 dozen eggs between them, depending on breed and age. That’s a savings of over $400 a year. In addition, an egg provides about 7 grams of protein, which means those 120 dozen eggs – obtained at a cost of $60 per year will supply the complete protein needs of the average woman. The ability to raise some of your own food can help provide a greater sense of security in insecure times.
The Urban/Suburban Chicken Movement
Chicken keeping is very popular among those who are concerned about the environment, 4H, food safety and security, self sufficiency and preparedness. Surrounding cities allow chickens: Dallas Corvallis Albany Salem, Keizer,
Living Sustainably
Increasing numbers of us are interested in living more sustainably, and many
communities. Backyard chickens allow us to reduce our carbon footprint by producing some of our own food. Every food item we can produce organically and on our own property – just outside our back door – is one less item that must be shipped to us and shopped for. Every item of food we raise ourselves represents a step in living a greener, more sustainable, lifestyle. People who have backyard chickens are less likely to use chemicals and pesticides in their yards and gardens because it’s healthier for their chickens. In return the chickens eat weeds and bugs that normally plague unsprayed yards. Composted chicken manure is one of the most efficient natural fertilizers and is provided for free with no need for transport. Backyard chickens eat grass clippings which might otherwise end up in the landfills and food scraps which might end up in the garbage and sewage
Possible Concerns:
Code Enforcement and Burdens on Government
Living Sustainably
Increasing numbers of us are interested in living more sustainably, and many
communities. Backyard chickens allow us to reduce our carbon footprint by producing some of our own food. Every food item we can produce organically and on our own property – just outside our back door – is one less item that must be shipped to us and shopped for. Every item of food we raise ourselves represents a step in living a greener, more sustainable, lifestyle. People who have backyard chickens are less likely to use chemicals and pesticides in their yards and gardens because it’s healthier for their chickens. In return the chickens eat weeds and bugs that normally plague unsprayed yards. Composted chicken manure is one of the most efficient natural fertilizers and is provided for free with no need for transport. Backyard chickens eat grass clippings which might otherwise end up in the landfills and food scraps which might end up in the garbage and sewage
Possible Concerns:
Code Enforcement and Burdens on Government
Proposed Ordinance forbids roosters and doesn’t require inspections or permits for up to 5 hens. Such an ordinance will generate no significant burden on government. There are exisiting ordinances in both cities that protect citizens from excessive noises, smells, etc. and these would apply to chickens as well. The proposed new ordinance that reclassifies and allows hens will be complaint driven.
Chickens Do Not Pose a Public Health Risk
The type of Avian Influenza that is contagious to humans has not been found in
Unlike cats and dogs which are prime vectors for rabies, parasites, and tick borne diseases, backyard chickens actually keep your yard healthier for humans by eating ticks and other insects. Salmonella, which has been associated with raw eggs, is a problem with factory farmed eggs, not with backyard chickens
Chickens Do Not Attract Predators to the Area
Chickens, if left unprotected, are vulnerable to predators. as the predators of chickens are the same as those of the wild rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, small birds, and other local wild prey animals already present in our community, they do not themselves attract predators to the area because chickens are penned up in the backyard (unlike wild rabbits, for instance, which hide from predators in tall grass, brush and shrubbery), the predators may be seen more often. Coyotes, for instance, are seen more often when they take a cat or small dog than when they take a rabbit. But the presence of chickens does not attract predators to the area; predators are already here.
Chickens are Not Messy
Chicken enclosures used in city and urban settings tend to be attractive and are
easily maintained. Small flocks are managed with a minimum of time and energy on
the part of their owners.
Chickens Are Not Noisy
Hens are quiet birds. It’s only roosters that are known for loud morning crowing, and roosters are not necessary for the production of eggs. We are not asking for roosters! The occasional clucking of hens is generally not audible beyond 25 feet. Some hens give a few squawks while actually laying an egg or bragging about it afterward, but this noise is very short lived and much quieter than barking dogs, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, passing trucks, children playing, and other common neighborhood sounds. M-I’s Proposed Ordinance requires that chickens are kept at least 15 feet from any building used or capable of being used for human habitation, not including the applicant's own dwelling, a distance at which most normal chicken noises are barely audible.
Hens are quiet birds. It’s only roosters that are known for loud morning crowing, and roosters are not necessary for the production of eggs. We are not asking for roosters! The occasional clucking of hens is generally not audible beyond 25 feet. Some hens give a few squawks while actually laying an egg or bragging about it afterward, but this noise is very short lived and much quieter than barking dogs, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, passing trucks, children playing, and other common neighborhood sounds. M-I’s Proposed Ordinance requires that chickens are kept at least 15 feet from any building used or capable of being used for human habitation, not including the applicant's own dwelling, a distance at which most normal chicken noises are barely audible.
