Our city council recently passed a law allowing chickens within the city limits.   I grew up in the days when most people had “country cousins.”  When we visited the farm, I can remember chickens wandering all over the property.  They had their own house,  but they only laid eggs and slept there.  I don’t remember anything very appealing about them, except for the food they produced. And of course, there were always roosters chasing the hens.  But now, city chickens must  remain celibate.  No roosters allowed.   The city makes lonely chickens the law. That seems a little mean spirited, to me.

Free range chickens provide lots of fresh eggs, if you don’t mind cleaning off the poop.  They also provide chicken meat.  Did you ever witness the killing  of a chicken?  I did, many times.  My aunt was a tough farm wife with no mercy. The chicken would be strung up on a clothesline before she wrung its neck. At that point, I closed my eyes and ran away.  The next time I saw the ill fated bird was after it had been dipped in boiling water and the feathers plucked.  At last,  the hen was cut up and coated with  flour before frying.  Yes, it was super delicious.  But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to set up a chicken slaughterhouse in their own home.

What worries me most about the new chicken law is code enforcement.  Who is going to check every chicken coop for roosters?  Or make sure there are only 8 chickens in a pen?  Roosters wake you in the morning but hens also make noise with their plucking.

Code enforcement in our city is an exercise in futility and hostility. First, we only have two code enforcement officers, so they don’t get around much.   If you turn in someone  who doesn’t cut their  grass, the officer informs them that a neighbor has complained. Lets face it,  an irresponsible  neighbor is typically hostile if confronted. . When he finds out you’ve reported him, you’re apt to feel some repercussion.   So, it’s seldom that anyone turns in a complaint.  Consequently, the culprit’s  weed filled, overgrown yard is a blight on the neighborhood  Now, if that same next door neighbor decides to raise chickens, we’re in for a long, hot, stinky, noisy summer. And code enforcement will not be of much help.

Urban chickens also attract unwanted intruders.  Raccoons, mice, and possums will want to get at the chickens and their feed.  Since we live across from a park, we have enough of those critters invading our property already.

And what about the vegetarians who might live nearby?  A yard full of chickens will certainly be an unwelcome sight.

I can’t imagine what convinced our councilmen to vote 5-2 in favor of the new ordinance.   What will be next?    Pigs?  Dairy cows?   There’s a reason most metropolitan areas  don’t allow farm animals within city limits.

Sadly, the ordinance has already passed.  Our  city has made lonely chickens the law.