Citizens of Midwest, please sign the petition in SUPPORT of backyard chickens and ducks, and let your voices be heard. Let our elected off

Across the country, urban and suburban areas are allowing small backyard flocks of fowl. Major cities allowing hens as pets include New York City, Chicago, Lost Angeles, Miami, and Baltimore. 

Closer to home, cities such as Denver, Pueblo, Billings, Evansville, Mills, Edgerton, Cheyenne, Sheridan, and Salt Lake City are allowing up to 10 chickens or ducks to be kept. Each city's ordinances are worded slightly differently regarding the number of chickens or ducks allowed, whether the neighbor's permission is needed, and control of the chicken waste.

Owners of pet hens prize them for their tame, friendly, and entertaining personalities. During COVID, when chicken eggs were scarce, chickens provided a sustainable food source. Chickens can play a part in a greener lifestyle. They naturally control insect pests, eat vegetable scraps, improve the lawn, and provide eggs for the table. To dispel concerns regarding backyard chickens here are a few facts:

You say backyard chickens are noisy. The fact is chickens will peep and cluck softly throughout the day and are silent all night. If you don't have roosters, there won't be too much noise. A dog's bark is 90 decibels and a cow's moo is 52-79 decibels, whereas a hen's laying song is 60 decibels, meaning it would take multiple hens, singing at the exact same time, to produce more noise than a single dog or cow.

You say backyard chickens smell and create too much waste. The fact is a forty-pound dog generates more solid waste than 10 chickens. To be more specific, one 40-pound dog generates about .75 pounds of waste every day while 10 chickens generate about .66 pounds of daily waste. How much waste do you think a cow generates? A cow generates approximately 150 pounds of waste a day. That’s approximately two-thirds of its weight is solid waste and one-third of its weight in urine EVERY single day.

You say backyard chickens attract predators, pests, and rodents. The fact is, that predators and rodents are already living in urban areas. Wild bird feeders, pet food, gardens, fishponds, birdbaths, and trash waiting to be collected all attract raccoons, foxes, rodents, and flies. Let's not forget the cows that wander our town. Cows attract even bigger predators such as coyotes. Modern coops, such as chicken arks, and other pens are ways of keeping, and managing, family flocks that eliminate concerns about predators, rodents, and other pests. In fact, chickens are part of the solution to pesky problems. Chickens are voracious carnivores and will seek and eat just about anything that moves including ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, stink bugs, slugs, and even mice, baby rats, and small snakes.

Backyard chickens when properly kept in a yard are comparable to rabbits in terms of care, and to both rabbits and hunting dogs in terms of housing. An adult hen will thrive in 4-8 square foot pen, compared to 7-10 square feet for a rabbit or 30-50 square feet for a dog.

Backyard chickens are beneficial to the community that they live in because they:

·      Offer fresh, locally sourced eggs that can be organic and non-GMO.

·      Can help provide food security for lower-income families.

·      Produce healthier eggs compared to store-bought eggs.

·      Provide gardeners with high-quality fertilizer.

·      Help control flies and other pests. 

·      Dispose of weeds and kitchen scraps that would otherwise go to the landfill. 

·      Provide a great way for kids to learn about nature, agriculture, and the responsibility of caring for animals. It’s also a fantastic way for both kids and adults to gain respect for these intelligent creatures that produce food for us.

Ordinance 2020-01 was an amendment to the 2013-04 ordinance pertaining to the keeping, care, and welfare of animals. This ordinance is somewhat outdated with regards to cleaner greener living and for this reason, the Council's revision is sought. There is no legitimate reason for any city to prohibit keeping a fowl, any more than there is reason to ban the keeping of dogs or cats.