The Right to Bear Chickens

8 Tips for Changing City Ordinances

support. Getting endorsements from the community is important. Organize meetings for your supporters. Offer free screenings of films, such as Mad City Chickens or Chicken Revolution, for inspiration and encouragement. Find an existing chicken keeper who has a particularly docile hen that might be enlisted as a goodwill ambassador.

4. get into government.

Educate yourself on how city government works and get to know your city officials, planning staff or advisory board. Identify individual members who may have a soft spot for the project and will take you under their wing.

5. learn from others. Learn the laws from other chicken-friendly tow ns and offer these as examples to your city council. What do neighboring cities’ regulations on keeping chickens look like? How many birds are allowed per residence? How far must the coop be placed from existing structures? You’ll need to navigate concerns about noise, smell and curb appeal from citizens and council members. Be prepared to answer questions. If the movement is flourishing in other cities and complaints are few, ask for a letter of support from those cities to take to your council members. If you’re particularly savvy about governmental affairs, you may even draft a proposed ordinance for keeping chickens in your town (modeled on those cities’ codes) and offer it at a meeting.

6. get the media Involved. Contact your local newspaper and other city publications. Target reporters who have an interest in sustainability and environmental issues. Speak on the radio and similar public platforms. The goal is to garner widespread support and to put pressure on your city council to address the issue (they’ll be more likely to pass the ordinance if they see a majority supports it).

7. Come Prepared. Put together information packets to give to the city council member(s) who are willing to help you. If no one is willing, attend town hall meetings any time chickens are on the agenda. Gather your supporters and ask them to attend. Pick a few eloquent individuals to prepare speeches on certain concerns (odor, noise, disease and so on) and ask them to speak when the council is open to public comments. Be polite and stick to the facts. Don’t forget to invite the media.

8. Be Patient. Some cities are able to overturn ordinances in 6 to 9 months, but many take 12 to 18 months to see results. Once you get the ball rolling, don’t give up. Be persistent but also compassionate and courteous. Do your research, be reasonable and respectful, and you’ll soon have legal chickens in backyards all over town.

will probably become tiresome and tedious over the years as you do it every day. Instead, you may want to install only garden features with excellent drainage.

Deck railings, fence posts and low fencing all make enticing perches for backyard chickens. The preening and grooming that follows dustbathing is a social activity that often takes place in small groups while perching. And as chickens perch, they poop. You can either restrict your flock to certain areas of your backyard or make your peace with poop.

Softscapes

Of all the garden ‘scapes, softscapes are the most susceptible to destruction by chickens. Soil harbors all manner of grubby bugs, wriggly worms, seeds and nuts, and seeking out and finding this forage is what chickens live for.

To the gardener, mulch is a must. It protects the topsoil, helps the ground retain moisture and keeps weeds to a minimum. To the chicken, mulch is a flimsy barrier between her beak and the good stuff. In a few swift digs of her talons, she’ll send the mulch flying, revealing the vulnerable soil and bugs below. Like a moth to a flame, chickens instinctively know to search under mulch, piles of leaves and similar ground covering to find protein-rich forage.

Like mulched areas, flower beds and edible gardens are prone to damage from free-roaming chickens. Vegetable gardens and fruit trees are especially targeted. The sweet greens, juicy fruits, plump veggies and tender seedlings of newly planted beds are simply irresistible to chickens. With both mulched and cultivated gardens, fencing is the only surefire way to keep chickens from getting to these valuable crops. Fencing can be utilized to corral chickens to one area, enclose entire gardens, or even cover individual beds, so do what works best for your setup and budget.

Generally speaking, grass-covered lawn is less vulnerable than the types of gardens described above. While chickens will dig and scratch at grass, they’ll only do significant damage if they are confined to a small patch for a very long time. Chickens will nibble the tips from grass and take bites of weed and plant leaves but will rarely pull up any of these from the roots while grazing. Chickens may be rotated on grass with portable fencing or pens very successfully. The size of the pen and the number of birds in your flock will give you an idea of how quickly they’ll eat the greens down to dirt. For the first few rotations, you will need to watch them closely and move them before you see significant damage to your grass.

None of this information is meant to discourage you from allowing your chickens to free-range. In fact, foraging — and all of the health benefits that come with it — is an essential aspect of any chicken’s life. As with any other area of chicken keeping, I listed these concerns because a few preventive steps can go a long way toward derailing any unfortunate surprises for a new chicken keeper. So, find a happy medium. Protect your gardens, but let your chickens have some free-range time. It’s entirely possible to have a beautiful, flourishing garden, clean outdoor spaces and happy, free-roaming chickens.

Kristina Mercedes Urquhart