Oh! The Possibilities...

I have learned something vitally important about my city:

Chickens are ALLOWED!

Here is the law:

PART II. Chapter 6. Article IV. Sec. 6-105. Fowl.

(a) Generally. The keeping of fowl such as roosters, ducks, turkeys, geese, peacocks, guineas, or other such loud fowl within the city limits, in any pen, coop or enclosure that is within 150 feet of any residence (other than the owner's), business or school shall be prohibited.

(b) Chickens. No person shall keep more than two hens in an area zoned residential within the city, and shall be no closer than 50 feet to the nearest inhabited dwelling, other than that of the owner.

(c) Secure pen or enclosure. Any fowl kept within the city limits shall be in a secure pen, coop or enclosure, and such structure shall be of such construction and strength to keep such animals from running at large.

(d) Exceptions. Public park lands and lakes shall be exempt from the fowl ordinance, as shall property or acreage annexed into the city after January 1, 1999, for a period of 12 months from adoption of an annexation ordinance.

I can't wait to build my chicken coop.

The Cry of the Urban Chicken Farmer!

In the Wall Street Journal, Some City Folk Are Mad as Wet Hens When Chickens Come Home to Roost.


More chickens. This time in the Wall Street Journal.

Urban chicken farmers, unite!
This is your moment!
Free yourself from the tyrrany of mass produced chickens and eggs!
Loose the chains of the mega supermarkets!

Raise your own chickens!

On a related note, the documentary movie Food, Inc. is now out in theaters. Go watch it!

For the Birds!

I have brought up the subject in my household, of "urban chicken farming" in the past. I think it would be pretty cool to have a bunch of chickens. The fresh eggs, insect control, free fertilizer and hours of tortuous chores, I mean entertainment, for the boys. Who wouldn't want some chickens? My grandparents raised chickens in their back yard for years and they lived in the city. I even have the perfect place for them in the backyard that's already cordoned off so the dogs can't get them.

It seems I'm not alone in this idea. In the Dallas Morning News this morning, Folks in Dallas, elsewhere hatching plans for backyard chicken farms. I probably have a romanticized view of what it means to be an urban chicken farmer. My image is something like this:

There is NO WAY Sue is going to let me have chickens. Something about how I can't take care of the stuff we already have. She'll point to the garage, or the back yard, or how the kids don't like to clean their rooms, or anything other objection she can raise, related or not. So for now urban chicken farming is just a suprious idea floating around in my head. It probably will never amount to much more than that.