Call your city council members. Let them know you're pro-poultry.

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.

Recent chicken journalism

First, chickens in the Wall Street Journal, now chickens in the Wall Street Journal. More NYC poultry and closer to home, Grand Rapids may soon go pro-chicken.

I invited this fortune teller to my picnic and....

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.

Muncie Urban Chickens = Front Page News

The July 3 edition of The Star Press published 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.