Lower Makefield Township currently allows residents to raise chickens if they have 5 or more acres of property.   We feel that residents should be allowed to raise hens (not roosters) on residential property in a backyard as long as they are contained within the confines of the backyard, are not creating a nuisance for neighbors and meet certain standards such as appropriate protection in a well maintained coop that is set back a "reasonable" distance from the property line.  Residents should be able to raise chickens to provide eggs for their own families.  We urge Lower Makefield supervisors to lift this restriction on residents and remove the government interference on individual food security by allowing up to 5 hens to be raised by residents.

Some benefits of raising your own chickens:
*Backyard chickens provide a better alternative to the excessive environmental impact of factory farming.
*Backyard chickens can be like pets since they provide companionship to their owners and are able to recognize faces and come when called.
*They provide an organic and healthy source of food.
*They are great as pest control for gardens (they eat ticks!)
*Decrease the use of harmful herbicides since they eat unwanted weeds.
*They make much less noise than the cars that pass by or dogs
*Backyard chickens are raised in a much more humane environment than corporate farmed chickens

Misconceptions:

*They're noisy (Nope, that's why we are asking for hens, not roosters)
They're dirty (Not any dirtier than a dog and their feces is more beneficial to gardens)
They spread diseases like salmonella (no, not if they are cared for properly)