Posted
on March 15, 2012, 6:57 am,
by Kara Kane
and received Comments Off.
A recent article in The Buffalo News documents how suburban governments restrict the ability of homeowners to raise chickens on their property.
As someone who has raised chickens for nearly a year, I can say with authority that those governments are just being foolish.
Image from Wikipedia. A dangerous chicken
Are they dangerous? Hardly. Yesterday, one of our “poofs” (
Silkies) gave chase to my dog. Yes, you read that correctly. My English Springer Spaniel, a bird dog, was chased by a chicken. I trust my chickens around children of any age. The same can’t be said about your average dog or cat.
Are they loud? When we had roosters, they were no louder than the wild birds that make their home on our land. And the hens – most of the time I don’t even notice that they’re around.
Are they smelly? If you had several dozen, the smell could get bad, especially if they are concentrated in one area. But with 10 or even 20 at our house, we let them roam free, and scoop up the poop in their coop as needed.
Are they hard to raise? Not at all. In the winter, we bring them fresh water, set up a heat lamp and make sure they have enough feed and a clean coop. In the summer, they run free, attacking the bug population and keeping to themselves. Year-round, we feed them table scraps (corn and watermelon rinds are favorites). We’ve been averaging five fresh eggs each day too – even better and fresher than the expensive free range/organic eggs from the grocery store.
Bottom-line: chickens are harmless, valuable, low-maintenance animals that anyone with a spare bit of land and a few extra minutes a day can handle. Our son has learned responsibility from participating in their care and feeding. I am hoping the best for the Amherst family who has to deal with an uncooperative town board.
