That's Chomperee the wannabe backyard chicken at the Living Lightly Fair, September 2010. So how does someone take a picture of a hen that somehow makes her look noble?
It was excellent to see such a show of support for backyard chickens in our community. Special thanks to the organizers of the Living Lightly Fair for letting us take part!
Thank you if you signed our petition (which will be making its way to our city legislators soon) or if you just stopped and talked.
Surely many of you have been following all the gory details about the DeCoster egg recall. This has definitely meant a boost to local egg economies nationwide (and perhaps to better regulations as outlined in the latest food safety bill in the Senate).
And, yes, let's just add "factory egg salmonella outbreak" to the list of reasons why striking down the ban on backyard chickens in Muncie will benefit our food safety and our health along with the environment and economy.
She would hop up on the picnic table every morning and watch her owners inside stumbling around for that first cup of coffee. She would spend her days roaming the back yard, munching on grass or, if her owners weren't watching, fresh herbs from the garden. She paid no mind to the neighbor's dog that watched, with great tail-wagging enthusiasm, her every move.
At night, she would hunker down on a bed of straw in her red doghouse. In the morning, if the mood struck her, she would lay an egg.
That's right, an egg.
Chomperee, you see, was a chicken. A city chicken, to be exact.
And, as her owners discovered, she was also illegal.
"We just assumed that when we moved here, you could have chickens," Lindsey Helms said as she sat with her husband Bryan Preston at the picnic table outside their near-downtown home.
They were wrong.
One afternoon in April, the animal control "Garfield" truck pulled up in front of the modest, single-story house. "They were tipped off that we had birds in the back yard," Helms said. "They said we had a week to get them out."
A city ordinance strictly prohibits the "harboring of poultry" within city limits.
Now the earthy, easy-going couple has become what they called "reluctant chicken activists" and the humans behind Urban Bird, a local group "dedicated to bringing chickens back to Muncie." Their Urban Bird Facebook page has more than 100 Muncie friends of the feathers so far and their popular blog clucks regularly about the city chicken trend.
Yes, trend.
It seems the hankering to have a few hens hunting and pecking in your yard is catching on nationwide.
More than 140 cities have already passed ordinances to allow chickens in urban areas, including Evansville and Bloomington. Big cities are welcoming them as well -- Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Toledo, even New York City. And Indy? Turns out there is not a specific ordinance forbidding fowl in back yards there.
Bloomington passed its ordinance in 2006 and what followed was anything but a "chicken boom," Preston, a lanky, soft-spoken guy, said with a quick smile. "There are only about seven people who have applied for permits since then."
But would a fowl-friendly new ordinance fly in Muncie?
"There are certainly more people interested in green living and local eating," Helms, 29, suggested. "And you can't get more local than your own back yard."
Preston agreed, his eyes wandering over to the rows of potatoes and sunflowers down one side of their yard. "It was nice to be able to go to the back yard and gather everything you needed for an entire meal -- herbs, eggs, some veggies," he said. "Simple and satisfying."
Helms, a Muncie native, and Preston, who grew up in Normal, Ill., met years ago in Chicago, where many of their city-dwelling friends kept chickens.
When they moved back to Muncie and into a home near Maring-Hunt Library, poultry seemed like a perfect addition to their sustainable lifestyle. They were already coordinating the community garden down the street, riding their bikes as much as possible, and reducing, reusing and recycling like nobody's business.
So last year, they spruced up a dog house they found on the side of the road, propped it up on wooden stilts near the garage, and fashioned a ramp leading up to its front door.
The first chicken to move in was Chomperee. Three more would follow -- Red Bird, Black Bird and Feather Face.
All of them are now with "foster parents" in Middletown.
But they weren't the only chickens cooped in the city. "There are quite a few people, right now, who have chickens in their back yards and you would never know it," Preston, 31, said.
Randall Jackson said he's pretty sure his neighbors in the Old West End aren't harboring hens -- and he likes it that way. "It's weird," he said. "I can't imagine living next door to a bunch of chickens. I live in the city for a reason. I don't like the country. Chickens are smelly and noisy and belong in the country. Simple as that."
But is it?
Helms and Preston, both grad students at Ball State University, have put together a booklet attempting to debunk some of the urban chicken myths.
Take the squawk factor, for example.
Roosters are noisy, Helms would tell you. Hens are not. And luckily, she points out, roosters are not necessary for a hen to produce eggs.
A sparrow landed on a branch of the maple tree towering above her and started to chirp. "That's noisier," she said.
As for the coop poop, Helms and Preston put it to good use. "We added it to the compost bin and used it to fertilize the gardens," Helms said.
In the booklet, they tout the other benefits of keeping chickens: as an affordable way to maintain a stable source of healthy food; as a great way for kids to learn where their food comes from; as quieter, cleaner and less potentially dangerous than other pets such as dogs and cats, and as a productive way to put ample unused urban space to use.
The booklet even offers up a revised ordinance that limits the number of chickens (8), keeps roosters out of the picture and makes sure coops are kept up to what you might call an odor-free code.
Preston said he's shared the info with some of the city council members, who now refer to him as "The Chicken Guy."
"Some of them were not completely against it and said they wanted to know more about it," he said. "That was encouraging."
But no one has stepped forward yet to take the ordinance under their wing.
Council member Linda Gregory said there are bigger issues right now.
"I feel like we have enough animal-control issues on our plate without adding chickens into the mix," she said. She went on to say that she would "certainly not sponsor an ordinance" and would "probably not vote in favor of one."
"I don't want them living next door to me," she said, adding that she would be concerned about "noise and odor," as well as "disease issues."
"I guess I feel like if you want to have chickens, you need to be away from other people."
Council member Sam Marshall said letting chickens in the city would open a "Pandora's Box" of livestock. "Where do we go from there?" he said. "Next we'd have people wanting horses and cattle in their back yards. I just don't see [the ordinance] as a thing that would be good for the city."
On the other side of the issue and the privacy fence from Preston and Helms, Emilie Carpenter was watching her kids -- Josephina and Julian -- play on the swing set.
"We really liked having the chickens next door," she said. "We could see them from our kitchen window; the kids would watch them while they ate breakfast in the morning."
They would even chicken-sit when their neighbors would go out of town.
"It's a silly law," Carpenter said as she tried to calm Wendy, the family's rambunctious black mutt. "Trust me, my dog is far louder than those chickens ever were. And she makes much bigger messes in the yard, too."
She laughed as the dog darted across the yard.
Josephina, 5, misses Red Bird the most. "I liked to go over and get eggs," she said. Eggs that she preferred scrambled. "I'm sad we don't get anymore of her eggs."
"I look forward to the day when the ordinance is revised and we get the chickens back in the neighborhood," her mom added as the kids headed for the slide.
The red doghouse coop hasn't been touched since the city chickens went away.
"It seems so defeatist to take it down," Helms said, glancing over at it. The door was open. Inside, straw was still strewn across the floor.
As if on cue, Wendy jumped up to her spot along the fence line and rested her head on the top.
These are the home phones listed on the City of Muncie website, so don't call too late.
Your city council members work for you. It is their job to listen to your input and, based on our experience, they are all cordial and happy to do so. Believe it or not, the best way to get in touch with them is via telephone. In fact, tell them who you are, where you live, where you work(ed), and that you might be interested in getting more involved in decision-making in the city. Please do this, since they need to hear from YOU and not just the most vocal residents of Muncie!
With your input, we can get this done, and perhaps more.Attend the city council meetings which take place at city hall on the first Monday of every month starting at 7:30 pm. (This month is an exception: it is tonight, July 12.) The last part of the meeting is reserved for public comment. This is a good opportunity to have your voice heard about chickens or anything else.
Other Muncie Municipal codes worth revisiting: Sec. 95.07. Picnics. No public picnic shall be held in any park without a written permit of the superintendent, in which shall be designated the place where the picnic is to be held. Picnics permitted for Sunday and secular schools must always be attended by teachers and masters of the schools, who will be held personally responsible for all infringements of the rules set out in this chapter by the participants. No person shall intrude upon a picnic without the consent of those in charge of it, nor disturb any picnic within a park. Parties holding picnics in parks must clean up the ground that has been occupied by them and remove all paper and litter. (Code 1968, § 95.07) Cross reference—Penalty, § 10.99.
Sec. 95.08. Sleeping on benches; gambling. No person shall be allowed to sleep on the benches of any park, or to beg, tell fortunes, or play at any game of chance or with any instrument of gaming in the park. Gambling and playing cards in any form are prohibited in any park. (Code, § 95.08) Cross reference—Penalty, § 10.99.
The July 3 edition of The Star Presspublished this story about our backyard chickens on its front page. The switchboards here at Urban Bird headquarters have really lit up! We are happy to report that we have received an overwhelmingly positive response about all this. Michelle Kinsey did a wonderful job with the research and interview. Thanks again Michelle!
It is interesting to consider that of the 70+ comments left on the online version of the story, only a handful of them were negative. Typically, the comments on this site quickly degrade into personal and petty tirades, but any negativity here was rather vague and toothless.
So what is the next step? To get the ordinance changed, the Muncie City Council must introduce and pass a new ordinance that replaces the old one. Then the Mayor has to sign it. Urban Bird Muncie has already proposed and distributed what we think is a sensible replacement ordinance. Read it here. Please let us know what you think.
The Bloomington, Indiana city council passed legislation 3 1/2 years ago that allows limited chicken keeping in the city. They allow up to five chickens per household, permitted only after city inspection and consent of adjacent neighbors. This video suggests that there are very few troubles with this arrangement.
Read this good article on how the urban farming situation in Cleveland is developing as a result of last year's famed legislation.
Brown says that in the first year of the “chicken and bee” ordinance in 2009, there were 14 applications for permits or licenses, mainly for backyard chicken coops, and only two complaints ...– both regarding the keeping of pigs, and none about chickens or bees.
Also keep in mind the similarities (writ small) that Muncie has with the "rust belt" cities of Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, each of which are advancing strong urban gardening/farming programs that make use of increasing available space.
Like other cities, notably Detroit, confronted with rampant home foreclosures and vacant parcels, hundreds of acres of urban land are lying fallow. In the 77-square-mile area within city limits, there are currently 18,000 vacant lots totaling 3,500 acres. While the primary goal is neighborhood redevelopment – including an emphasis on arts and entertainment and building on anchor institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic and universities—the city has also launched several initiatives to try to encourage activity despite dwindling population and stalled private-sector activity.
Among them: stabilizing vacant lots with urban gardens and native plantings, demolition of structures while maintaining foundations to allow the construction of greenhouses, allowing sideyard expansion, and using vacant lots for geo-thermal wells to heat neighboring structures. But perhaps the most interesting effort is re-writing zoning to allow urban farming—dramatically reducing setback requirements for chicken coops and beehives on empty parcels, and clarifying the process for allowing such uses.
(Read/download/print the full version of this report here. )
Let’s Allow Responsible Chicken Keeping in Muncie
“A chicken ain't nothin' but a bird.”--Emmett “Babe” Wallace
Why Chickens?
As it stands, Muncie city ordinance expressly forbids keeping chickens within city limits (see Sec. 90.19).
But Muncie is changing. The economic crisis has put considerable strain on local residents' food budgets. Perhaps not coincidentally, the health of Delaware County citizens ranks 81 (out of the 92 Indiana counties). Just under a third of adults in the county are obese. However, more and more Muncie residents are taking matters into their own hands by growing food on their own property or in community gardens. Keeping chickens goes right along with this trend, a small step toward a healthier and more economically resilient Muncie.
We hope that the city will replace the ban on chickens with a reasonable set of rules that allows and limits chicken keeping within city limits. Here’s why:
•Keeping chickens is an affordable way to maintain a stable source of healthy food,
•Fresh eggs are a healthy protein supplement to garden vegetables,
•Chickens are significantly quieter, cleaner, and less potentially dangerous than other pets like dogs and cats,
•Keeping chickens is a great way for kids to learn where their food comes from,
•Excrement from a small chicken flock can be an asset for home gardening/composting,
•Chicken keeping in Muncie would connect the city to the national urban chicken trend,
• Keeping chickens is a productive and positive way to put our ample unused urban space to use.
Chicken Keeping is a National Trend
More and more people are asking where their food comes from. The local food movement started years before Michelle Obama started her healthy gardening initiative, but her work has prioritized these issues. Cities, including Muncie, are redesigning their infrastructure, their laws, their governments, and their neighborhoods in more cost-effective and energy-conscious ways. These trends suggest that it is an opportune time for Muncie to relax the restrictions against keeping chickens. If we do, we will join the company of these 140 cities, all of which have passed ordinances that specifically allow keeping chickens within city limits. That list does not include cities like Chicago and Indianapolis which have no ordinances that mention chicken keeping.
Arguments against chickens
“Chickens are smelly.”
Dogs and cats produce a significantly greater quantity and more offensive waste than a small flock of chickens. Just as it is any pet owner’s responsibility to clean up after their pets in their yard, the same would apply if their pets were chickens.
“Chickens are noisy.”
Roosters are quite noisy and will almost certainly disturb close neighbors. Many cities that allow chickens have a “no roosters” measure written into the code. This is a sensible and enforceable rule. A small group of hens make significantly less noise than a small dog.
“No one wants chickens running around their neighborhood.”
Agreed. However, this is hardly a concern.Sec. 90.21 of the current Muncie municipal code already forbids chickens and other fowl from “running at large” in the city. This reasonable measure would not need to change. No chicken keeper would want any chickens to escape. The possibility of a feral chicken population would be impossible, as no roosters would be permitted (see “Chicken are noisy”).
“If you want chickens, go buy a farm.”
If chickens shouldn’t belong in a city because they are “farm animals,” nor should edible gardens belong in a city because they are “farm plants.” Keeping a small number of chickens can provide a family with plenty of fresh eggs in the same way that a small garden can provide a family with fresh fruits and vegetables.
“There is not enough space for chicken keeping in a city.”
Cities with significantly higher population densities than Muncie support and maintain a significant number of chicken keepers. New York City, with one of the highest population densities in the world, allows responsible chicken keeping within city limits. Closer to home, major population centers like Indianapolis, Cleveland, Chicago, Toledo, and St. Louis also allow chicken keeping.
“What about the danger of diseases like bird flu and salmonella?”
This is a valid question, but the evidence points toward small flocks as the solution to the question of chickens as disease vectors. Here is the longer answer from the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts:
• Avian influenza of the type contagious to humans has not been found in North America.
• Should avian influenza (bird flu) ever reach North America, it would more likely spread where chickens have contact with the droppings of wild and migratory fowl, such as ponds frequented by Canada geese. These are conditions not likely in a small city backyard where only a few chickens reside. [http://www.pandemicflu.gov]
• Chickens are no more likely to carry salmonella than parakeets and pet reptiles. Good hand-washing practices are always important after handling animals and their waste. [Center for Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov]
Suggested Ordinance
We think the following draft of a chicken keeping ordinance addresses the key concerns of chicken keepers, their neighbors, and all city residents.
ON THE KEEPING OF CHICKENS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS
Keeping or harboring of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) permitted pursuant to the following:
(a)No more than 8 (eight) chickens per residential lot permitted,
(b)No roosters shall be permitted,
(c)No chicken may be maintained, enclosed or fenced in the front yard of a dwelling or within a dwelling,
(d)No chickens may run at large in the city (see Sec. 90.21 Fowl running at large),
(e)Cages, hutches, coops or other confinement shall be at least 20 feet away from any neighboring dwelling,
(f)Chickens must be maintained to prevent noise or odor that causes detriment to the health, safety and welfare of neighboring persons and properties.
Sections of existing code that pertain to chickens:
•Sec. 90.19. Keeping or harboring of live stock prohibited in certain residential areas.
•Sec. 90.22. Impounding of animals and fowl; sale of same.
Here's something to put near the top of your List of State Legislation to Watch! The Georgia House of Representatives is considering a statewide urban farm bill which would bar municipalities from making ordinances to prohibit urban farming and small animal husbandry. That includes chickens. How about that?
The bill, HB 842, is short and sweet, so it is worth reproducing the meat of it below. Notice the inclusion of goats!
Georgia HB 842:
(b) No county, municipality, consolidated government, or local government authority shall prohibit or require any permit for the growing or raising of food crops or chickens, rabbits, or milk goats in:
(1) Home gardens, coops, or pens on private residential property so long as such food crops or animals or the products thereof are used for human consumption by the occupant of such property and members of his or her household and not for commercial purposes; and
(2) Community or cooperative gardens, coops, or pens on any portion of any private lot made available for such purposes by the occupant thereof so long as the total lot size is not more than 2.75 acres and the food crops or animals or the products thereof are used for human consumption by the growers and raisers and members of their households and not for commercial purposes; provided, however, that the slaughter of goats kept pursuant to this Code section shall be prohibited.
We think the following draft of a chicken keeping ordinance addresses the key concerns of chicken keepers, their neighbors, and all city residents. Please comment on how this can be improved.
ON THE KEEPING OF CHICKENS IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS Keeping or harboring of chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) permitted pursuant to the following: (a) No more than 8 (eight) chickens per residential lot permitted, (b) No roosters shall be permitted, (c) No chicken may be maintained, enclosed or fenced in the front yard of a dwelling or within a dwelling, (d) Cages, hutches, coops or other confinement shall be at least 25 feet away from any neighboring dwelling, (e) No chickens may run at large in the city (see Sec. 90.21 Fowl running at large), (f) Chickens must be maintained to prevent noise or odor that causes detriment to the health, safety and welfare of neighboring persons and properties.
Sections of existing code that pertain to chickens: •Sec. 90.19. Keeping or harboring of live stock prohibited in certain residential areas. ―Point (5) needs to be amended to except chickens. •Sec. 90.22. Impounding of animals and fowl; sale of same.
(Backyard chicken concentrating on a fair ordinance; via sfweekly.com.)
Check out this great resource from the good folks at the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts for all those conversations you've been having with people who oppose the idea of keeping chickens in the city.
Excerpt:
Human Disease issues
· Avian influenza of the type contagious to humans has not been found in North America.
· Should avian influenza ever reach North America, it would more likely spread where chickens have contact with the droppings of wild and migratory fowl, such as ponds frequented Canada geese. These are conditions not likely in a small city backyard where only a few chickens reside. [http://www.pandemicflu.gov]
· Salmonella (common enterobacteria, can cause foodborne/gastrointestinal illness) is the other primary concern associated with chicken and eggs. Chickens are no more likely to carry it than parakeets and pet reptiles. Good hand-washing practices are always important after handling animals and their waste. [CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov]
Family Farmed panel on backyard chicken keeping was packed with over 150 people and more outside. It seems a large number of city-dwellers are ready to jump on the bird wagon. Also, a city coop tour is being organized. If a densely populated city can manage all of these birds, I don't foresee them becoming problematic in Muncie.
Some cities have ordinances that forbid chickens (like Muncie), some have ordinances that permit chickens (like Evansville), and some have no ordinances regarding chickens at all (like Indianapolis). If Muncie changes from the first group to the second group, we will join the company of the following cities:
Fayettville, AR Little Rock, AR Flagstaff, AZ Gilbert, AZ Albany, CA American Canyon, CA Anaheim, CA Bakersfield, CA Berkely, CA Campbell, CA Davis, CA Downey, CA El Cajon, CA Irvine, CA Lakewood, CA La Puente, CA Lafayette, CA Los Angeles, CA Mountain View, CA Oakland, CA Petaluma, CA Poway, CA Redwood City, CA Roseville, CA San Carlos, CA San Jose, CA San Francisco, CA San Mateo, CA Temple City, CA Vallejo, CA Arvada, CO Colorado Springs, CO Denver, CO Atlanta, GA Clive, IA Des Moines, IA Sioux City, IA West Des Moines, IA Windsor Heights, IA Nampa, ID Boise, ID Bloomington, IN Evansville, IN Lawrence, KS Topeka, KS Wichita, KS Louisville, KY Baton Rouge, LA New Orleans, LA Belmont, MA Brockton, MA Cambridge, MA Lynn, MA Northampton, MA Somerset, MA Wenham, MA Westwood, MA Baltimore City, MD Camden, ME Falmouth, ME South Portland, ME Ann Arbor, MI Benton Harbor, MI East Lansing, MI Lansing, MI Traverse City, MI Elk River, MN Minneapolis, MN Rosemount, MN St Paul, MN Missoula, MT Columbia, MO Kansas City, MO Kirksville, MO St Louis, MO Asheville, NC Chapel Hill, NC Durham, NC Raleigh, NC Lincoln, NE Omaha, NE Red Bank, NJ Albuquerque, NM Santa Fe, NM Henderson, NV Las Vegas, NV Binghamton, NY Huntington, NY New Hempstead, NY New York City, NY Smithtown, NY Cleveland, OH Toledo, OH Tulsa, OK Albany, OR Coos Bay, OR Corvallis, OR Eugene, OR Lake Oswego, OR Milwaukie, OR Oregon City, OR Portland, OR Stayton, OR Catawissa, PA Pittsburgh, PA Shaler, PA Aiken, SC Nashville, TN Austin, TX Dallas TX Fort Worth, TX Garland, TX Houston, TX Irving, TX Laredo, TX Murphy, TX Richardson, TX Round Rock, TX San Antonio, TX Brigham City, UT Salt Lake City, UT Falls Church, VA Fairfax City, VA Burlington, VT Battle Ground, WA Bothell, WA Camas, WA Everett, WA Lynnwood, WA Mill Creek, WA Olympia, WA Seattle, WA Spokane, WA Tacoma, WA Vancouver, WA Woodinville, WA Ellsworth, WI Green Bay, WI Madison, WI Laramie, WY
(Sources: The City Chicken and independent research on a few city codes.)
Dr. Michael Greger author of Bird Flu -- A Virus of Our Own Hatching, an examination of bird flu and what it means to us, writes, "To reduce the emergence of viruses like H5N1, humanity must shift toward raising poultry in smaller flocks, under less stressful, less crowded, and more hygienic conditions, with outdoor access, no use of human antivirals, and with an end to the practice of breeding for growth or unnatural egg production at the expense of immunity. This would also be expected to reduce rates of increasingly antibiotic-resistant pathogens such as Salmonella, the number-one food-borne killer in the United States. We need to move away from the industry’s fire-fighting approach to infectious disease to a more proactive preventive health approach that makes birds less susceptible—even resilient—to disease in the first place." (This is an excerpt from Urban Chickens Network. To read the entire post, see http://www.urbanchickens.net/2009/04/urban-chickens-solving-spread-of-bird.html)
Cats are soft, pleasant, and produce nothing of caloric value. Speaking of the distinction between pets and livestock, chicken diaper producers have seen a rise in sales.
Have a listen to "Chicken Ain't Nothin' But a Bird," an old swing tune re-interpreted by fingerstyle master Duck Baker in the late '70s. This is an important rendition, as both song title and performer first name are poultry-related.
While you're listening, consider the theme of this song in the context of urban chicken keeping!
Michael “Mick” Armbruster and Jay Lee have raised chickens in their backyard in the Meridian Kessler area of Indianapolis for the last 10 years. Armbruster, the chief poultry wrangler of the two, raised chickens as a child in New Mexico.
“I do it now for the same reasons I did it then: the satisfaction of producing your own food and the pleasure of caring for these beautiful creatures,” he says of the five hens and a rooster that reside with the couple.
Sec. 90.19. Keeping or harboring of live- stock prohibited in certain residential areas. No person occupying property within the city of Muncie, which is zoned under Title XV, section 150, of the zoning code, as R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-5, or R-6 residence zones shall keep or harbor any livestock or poultry on such property. (A) For the purposes of this section 90.19 livestock shall mean: (1) All cattle, or animals of the bovine species; (2) All horses, mules, burros, and asses or animals of the equine species; (3) All swine or animals of the porcine species; (4) All goats or animal of the caprine species; (5) All poultry!
That's Chomperee the wannabe backyard chicken at the Living Lightly Fair, September 2010. So how does someone take a picture of a hen that somehow makes her look noble? 
