Blog post by city council member on chickens-- please help?

[Rillion]

Mabrie Jackson, a city council member for Plano, TX, wrote a blog post yesterday discussing how many requests she has received from people who want to keep backyard chickens in Plano-- it's currently illegal here. She expresses some concerns, mainly about the disease factor and what to do if chickens go missing or are attacked by dogs. There were a lot of comments people made in response that showed common misconceptions about chickens, so I wrote a lengthy post in response to those (I'm Gretchen). But if you'd like to contribute some knowledge to the discussion as well, that would be greatly appreciated! Maybe you can help to change some minds and laws.

It would be especially nice if people who live in the city could share their experiences, since most of the objections seem to be by people who don't want their next-door neighbors to keep chickens.

Here's the blog post.

 

[Rillion]

Also, a reporter for the Dallas Morning News wants to write a general story about backyard chickens and has asked for anyone with such experience to write to him about it. He says:

We're getting lots of great comments about Plano City Councilwoman Mabrie Jackson's post earlier today on backyard chicken coops. (Keep them up!)

Know anyone out there who takes care of backyard chickens in an urban or suburban environment? We're putting together a story on the issue and we'd love to find some real world examples of what Mabrie is talking about.

Send Reporter Theodore Kim an email. Thanks for reading!

You can send emails to him by going here .​

 

[Theodore Kim]

Thanks much for the help! (You beat me to the punch...)

Theodore Kim/Reporter
The Dallas Morning News

 

[MysticScorpio82]

Perfect! I am so glad you are here Mr. Kim!! I actually had a couple of links that I thought may help you with your article. First here is an article a fellow BYCer wrote for a Cleveland newspaper (I think you can use parts of it as research)

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=207084

Next I have "common myths about chickens" which it seems the council woman has already bought into some of these myths. This is by a group in Salem that is working on legalizing chickens in their area:

http://www.salemchickens.com/SalemChickens/Hen_Myths.html

I know I have a few more, and as soon as I find my info I will make another post. Best wishes!

 

[HilltopFarm]

Posted a message on the blog!!!! Hope it helps!!

 

[Rillion]

Quote:
Thanks so much. I think that once people accept that keeping chickens can be something "normal" that "normal" people do, it will change their minds.

 

[Rillion]

I wrote to Tashai Lovington and Robert Lughai, the co-directors of the wonderful documentary "Mad City Chickens," and asked if they wouldn't mind making a comment on the blog post in support of keeping backyard chickens. Within a few hours, I saw that there was a comment from them on the page, as well as a gracious email waiting in my inbox wishing support for wannabe chicken keepers in Plano. That was very kind of them. I haven't been a resident of Plano for very long so don't really have the contacts to organize a screening of the documentary, but maybe if this movement grows we'll be able to band together and do it.

 

[SMan]

Posted my 2 pents

 

[alycoop]

You know, it seems pretty silly, all this fuss and concern that hens might be noisy, dirty, etc.

My mother grew up in London during WWII. Rationing was pretty fierce there and they were allowed to have hens to supplement their diet. My grandparents lived in a working class area of Putney (now on the posh side judging by the current price of homes there) They had a large garden but it was not much bigger than many American yards.

We may not have rationng here but many people are striving to eat healthy, organic food. With the media and so many cities blathering on about "going green" why can't cities step up to the plate, and offer classes in urban backyard poultry - could be offered by college agriculture extensions or partner with 4-H.

 

[BigPeep]

I would be interested in seeing the article once it comes out.