All over the country more and more of us are interested in keeping backyard chickens, and many cities are adjusting their zoning laws to allow it. The City of Montgomery is doing the opposite. Current law doesn't outlaw chickens, so Montgomery is planning on changing that.
There are so many reasons to find a way to allow rather than forbid backyard chickens. Fresh, pastured organic eggs sustainably raised should be within everyone's grasp, but for many of us -- especially now -- they're unfortunately out of reach. But not if you raise them yourself. Chickens eat bugs, improve the soil, help prevent thatch, and produce organic fertilizer and compost. They have personalities and make easy-care and even affectionate pets. They require very little space: a chicken needs a run smaller than the top of the average kitchen table. They make less mess, smell, and noise than most dogs. If cared for properly they cause no smell or mess at all, and the normal cluck of a laying hen isn't audible from 25 feet -- about the same as normal conversation.
Require that there be no smell. Require that there be no mess. Require that there be no noise -- even require that there be no roosters. Require that they be confined, just like dogs and cats. Require that coops and runs be attractive and well-maintained, just like the requirements for fences. But why require that there be no chickens? This isn't a herd of goats or pigs we're talking about. Most families interested in raising backyard chickens want a couple of 8-pound birds.
I'll be down at Montgomery's City Hall (10101 Montgomery Rd) next Wednesday, May 6th, at 7pm for the Council Business Session if anyone wants to join me. Or send the members of council an email, especially if you're in Montgomery. I'm hoping they'll reconsider.
This is so rich. Hilvert clearly hasn't a clue. Is Montgomery an asylum for the terminally unhip?
ReplyDeleteWe have 9 chickens in Northside. I know there are a few others in the neighborhood that have chickens. The only concern our neighbors have is if we will give them some eggs. I'll try to be at the Montgomery meeting next week. Hope some other Northside chicken farmers can make it.
ReplyDeleteWow, 9! That's a lot of chickens! I'd love to have you there. The City Council is telling us that half an acre isn't enough to raise keep 3 - 4 chickens on. I told them there were people on city lots that were keeping more than that. :)
ReplyDeleteAren't the laws different in Northside than Montgomery? I think in Cinncinnati city limits we ARE allowed to keep chickens, provided that they don't smell. Right?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, yes, I believe the city of Cincinnati doesn't forbid chickens. Right now, the city of Montgomery doesn't, either.
ReplyDeleteValereee,
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know what the outcome of this was. I hope you get to keep your chickens. I used to have them on the farm when I was growing up and if I didn't have two dogs and two cats now I'd consider keeping a few chickens in my backyard.
Bianca, the new ordinance has had its first of three required readings. I'm doing a lot of research, and one of the things I've found is that most nearby communities have ordinances very similar to the -current- ordinance in Montgomery, which requires that chickens be contained and not be a nuisance. In Madeira and Wyoming, there are multiple households keeping chickens with no complaints or problems.
ReplyDeleteI am a Cincinnati resident who has the misfortune to live next door to a household with chickens. :( I really really hate living next door to chickens. I also have a friend in the same situation in another local municipality. For me the main problem is the noise. I hear them all the time and I don't want to hear them. At times, especially early mornings around 4 am they start screaming and keep doing do for an hour or more. They also may start clucking and screaming during the day. One of us works from home and have had a person on the phone remark "are there chickens there?" We feel this is unprofessional. We live in a city, not a country farm. We shouldn't need to be subjected to this. Also, if we complain to the neighbor or the police, we will only make an enemy. Please stop this chicken invasion! Move to the country! No City Chickens!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, it sounds like you have roosters living next door. Hens are pretty quiet.
ReplyDeleteIf it were a dog barking its head off at 4am, what would you do?