Numerous members of our community are facing serious backlash due to a couple residents that feel that we do not have the right to farm on our rural properties where a rooster is involved. These members are escalating things to a legal level, doing everything in their power to change how our farm operations run. Telling us that we cannot have a rooster on our properties, despite the long list of benefits that one provides. 

We need to stop this toxic way of thinking and the bullying that has come from it, immediately! We need to stand up for our rights, and the rights of everyone im our community,  producers and consumers alike...We ALL benefit from what a rooster provides. 

Not only do roosters keep egg producing hens safe from frequent predators, but they keep their flocks organized and orderly. Rushing the hens to cover in danger, ensuring everyone is in the coop at night,  and keeping watch over his flock as they sleep. Roosters also provide the very valuable contributions of fertile eggs, to allow for future hatching of dual purpose,  egg producing,  or even show/breeding birds. Without this, a farm cannot continue to affordably reproduce.  A recommended rooster to hen ratio is 1:7. In breeding season for breeding eggs, 1:4. In winter months, a 1:10 ratio can be managed if the free ranging area is reduced and protected. To request that poultry keepers have a flock with only egg producing hens is to put the safety of all birds at risk. It will require the farm to continually invest in high value pullets,  as they will not have the chance to hatch their own birds. It will mean the cost of locally produced eggs will be a drain not only on our local farmers, but all consumers. 

Roosters create noise. As do children,  cars, crows, and cows. To be able to appreciate the rooster for what it adds to a farm,  large or small, and the islands food production, can help us appreciate the call of warning and welcome they share.  

We hope that the community will continue to value and support the work that local farms, big and small, offer to our island community.  Let's not lose the island that this community built. Stand up for your right to local, healthy, safe foods!