Here are some of the comments I received in response to my entry linking to the Maplewood Review article about urban chickens last week.

Comment #1:

How would property values be affected?

What about the extreme cold on the chickens we have here in winter?

What is the benefit vs. cost of this idea? Could we instead support local farm raised natural/organic chickens? Also, it seems like it benefits most people with a larger size property who are able to abide by possible rules about footage between coops and neighboring houses, etc. Is this fair to those who don't own enough property but want chickens? What is the economic benefit?...

Interesting idea, maybe a good one if enough and the right restrictions guidelines and enforcement are put in place...or maybe not.

I do have to say though that a barking neighbor dog and piles of dog crap like we find so often on sidewalks and streets around here are much worse than a well-cared for chicken coop might be.

Comment #2:

I would love to have a couple of chickens as pets and for eggs, I have always wanted to do this.

Comment #3:

[We] both support the practice of having controlled chickens in the city. They are a good source of eggs and meat. The manure needs to be addressed in some way. It does make very good fertilizer.

We were listening to a rooster this fall from somewhere in our neighborhood. We think....

Comment #4:

I would like to stress my opposition to the idea. First of all we do not live in a rural area. I am all for having gardens but raising chickens is whole different story. If chickens were allowed then one could argue a few pigs should be OK. The story stated they could sell eggs to the local stores- Maybe they could but one must ask how many chickens would someone have to have to make it worthwhile. I would be very upset if the council ever decided to change the law to allow raising chickens once again and if I ever had to look out my window and saw chickens running around a backyard. We are a frist tier metro area not a rural area for many decades.

In addition to the e-mail, I also received comment in person from a couple who strongly oppose chickens in the city.

Labels: environment

Posted by John Nephew on 1/09/2010 08:56:00 AM Email to a Friend | Permalink
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