Petition for Immediate Reform of Valley Township’s Chicken Ordinance.

A Hunger Strike for Food Security, Community Health, and Humane, Modern Laws

My name is Stephanie Shermer, and I am currently on a hunger strike. This is not for attention—it is an act of last resort to bring public awareness to the harm Valley Township’s outdated chicken ordinances are causing to real local families.

For months, several Valley residents—including families who donate their eggs—have been cited for keeping small, humane backyard flocks. These families are not creating nuisances. They are creating food. They are supporting neighbors. They are filling the gaps left by decades of food insecurity in our region.

Why I Am on a Hunger Strike

Valley Township has a ~25% poverty rate and historically existed in a food desert where families relied heavily on the school breakfast and lunch programs—which have now been defunded.

A single hen produces 150–300 eggs year, meaning a modest flock can supply hundreds of dozen eggs annually. That food stays local. It feeds families, elders, disabled residents, and neighbors. In many cases, residents give the eggs away freely—not for profit, but for community.

Instead of being supported, these families have been punished.

The ½-Acre Requirement Creates a Financial Barrier

Valley Township currently requires residents to own at least half an acre to keep even a small number of hens.

This is not a safety rule.

This is a financial gatekeeping mechanism.

Half-acre properties in Valley are significantly more expensive, meaning:

Low-income residents are excluded.
Renters are excluded.
Single parents, seniors, and first-time buyers are excluded.
The exact people who benefit most from homegrown food are legally barred from producing it.

This restriction has no scientific basis.

Chickens kept in secure runs do not need half an acre.

Every major urban, suburban, and rural township across Pennsylvania and the United States safely allows hens on far smaller lots.

The ½-acre rule does nothing except decide who gets to feed their family and who does not.

Restricting Flock Size Creates Animal Welfare Problems

Chickens are flock animals with strong, well-documented social structures. Enforcing very small flock sizes is not humane—it is harmful.

When flock size is too small, it creates:

Chronic stress
Increased predation risk (less “safety in numbers”)
Social instability
Heightened bullying among birds
Lower egg production
Weaker immune systems
Shorter lifespans
Animal behavior problems caused by loneliness and lack of species-typical social structure

These are not opinions.

This is animal science, confirmed by poultry veterinarians, animal-welfare organizations, land-grant universities, and every farm-animal behavior textbook used in the U.S.

A two- or three-bird limit is not “safer.”

It is inhumane.

A reasonable flock size—6 to 12 hens—is the national standard for backyard poultry and aligns with optimal welfare, biosecurity, and community health.

Backyard Chickens Are a Proven Tool Against Food Insecurity

During both World Wars, the U.S. government encouraged families to raise hens as part of the Victory Garden movement because chickens provide the highest protein yield per square foot of any livestock species.

They are quiet.

They are clean when maintained in a run.

They produce nutrient-dense food at the lowest cost.

Chester County Food Bank distributed 6 million pounds of food last year—a staggering number for one of the wealthiest counties in the state. This proves that the need is real and ongoing.

Valley Township should be empowering residents to meet their own food needs—not cutting them off from the simplest, most sustainable method available.

The Human Cost of Current Enforcement

Families have been cited for maintaining modest flocks that:

Feed their children
Support elderly neighbors
Help disabled residents access affordable protein
Reduce reliance on overstretched food pantries
Improve mental health and self-sufficiency

These residents are not nuisances.

They are assets to the community.

Yet they have been fined, threatened, and dragged through bureaucratic hearings for simply trying to feed and support their families and neighbors.

This is not what a functional township does.

This is what happens when laws fall decades behind reality.

What Valley Township Must Do

We urgently need modern, humane, community-supportive regulations that include:

Allowing 6–12 hens
Removing the unnecessary ½-acre minimum
Permitting secure runs and coops on smaller lots
Banning roosters only—not hens
Clean, welfare-based coop standards
Setback rules that make sense for residential properties
Education-first enforcement, not punitive punishment

This is the model used across Pennsylvania and the country.

It works.

It is safe.

And it supports—not harms—families.

I Am Asking for Your Support

A hunger strike is not easy.

But neither is watching families be punished for feeding their community.

I am asking you to:

Sign this petition
Share it widely
Contact Valley Township supervisors and zoning officials
Demand humane, modern chicken laws that serve the whole community—not just those who can afford half an acre

Food freedom is not a privilege.

It is a necessity.

And Valley Township’s residents deserve laws rooted in science, fairness, and humanity.