Backyard chickens need more regulation: Safety of birds and people at stake

[Skipper81]

I think we need more avain vets.
Full flock vaccinations and the likes. For our protection against these types of laws and regulations. Because I did notice that people get there horses cows dogs and cats vaccinations but when it comes to there chickens they say they can't afford it for a 5 bird. Just a thought.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I think we need more avain vets.
Full flock vaccinations and the likes. For our protection against these types of laws and regulations. Because I did notice that people get there horses cows dogs and cats vaccinations but when it comes to there chickens they say they can't afford it for a 5 bird. Just a thought.

No. Let's not vaccinate.

It sounds lovely. Until you find out that the Marek's vaccine isn't effective and only masks symptoms, allowing flocks with really virulent strains of the disease to live and pass it on to other flocks, until it becomes an epidemic.

As for avian vets, that would be nice, but I was a farm kid. I don't pay forty bucks for a chicken, unless she's a pet.

 

[BantyChooks]

Of course. How nice of them.




They'll be using my tax dollars, obviously.

Shh. You aren't supposed to know that part.

 

[lazy gardener]

When it comes to choosing vaccinations for pets, there are some such as rabies that are required for public safety. And even that is over regulated. Rabies titre stays high for 7 years, yet state law demands a vaccination every 1 - 3 years. As for the other "recommended" vaccinations, the pet owner is within her rights to choose what is a sensible plan, and what is not. Heart worm is an extremely remote issue in my state, yet the vet office waiting room walls are plastered with fear mongering posters about the necessity of heart worm medication to prevent a sure epidemic. Drivel. Educate yourself about such illnesses, and you will realize how so many of these issues are driven by the desire to access your wallet.

As a flock owner, I am confident that my husbandry practices go much farther in ensuring the health of my flock than exposing them to vaccinations, especially the Marek's vaccine which is a leaky vaccine.

 

[Conan]

Haha - what a bunch of literal crap. Oh, yes, the government should get involved with how we raise chickens. I think this is piggy backing on the multi-billion dollar pet industry. People have gone bonkers on spending for their pets so I guess it's time to break into the poultry world. One cannot possible think that those disgusting semi trucks driving down the road with their loads of chickens in cages, half of them diseased, dying or dead, are healthy animals for the public but those of us with hens pecking about the yard have dirty birds.
I agree: Fear Mongering. Also, who would implement and regulate such laws? As lazy gardener points out, the vet can require you to have current rabies vaccines on your pets by law, but they can't actually make you pay to have your pet given a rabies shot. On the rare occasion I bring my dog to vet (once in his eight years), they ask if he's up on his shots. I laugh. They smile, they do nothing. After all, he is MY dog.
It always comes down to money. More laws, more regulations, more rules, more money.

 

[centrarchid]

I do not think it is government as the driving force, rather other folks with vested interest of their own that is currently in opposition with smaller scale poultry keeping. The government is the medium through which those other parties must get their way, or not.

 

[PirateGirl]

There is nothing outlining what the proposed regulations are. I live in an area where chickens are regulated by the local government. Nothing they require is outlandish and they do address many of the points the article mentions. Essentially I have a license to keep chickens. Animal Control paid my property a visit to check their living conditions. They have a record of who I am and can visit at any time to make sure things are sanitary and the animals appear healthy. If a neighbor complains about smell or noise, Animal Control may stop by just as they would with a complaint about any other animal. There are required setbacks to the property line in terms of coop placement as there is with any other type of structure (shed/garage/etc.) As a responsible animal owner I don't feel that these regulations are oppressive or infringing on my rights. They seem to exist in a way that has the well-being of the animals in mind as well as the sanitation of the neighborhood. There are separate (but related) regulations about composting and location and size of compost pile in relation to property lines and other structures. I may be going against the grain when I say that regulations are not inherently a bad thing.

 

[Chickassan]

This does indeed smell like "big chicken" buisness trying to eliminate or severely stifle options other than themselves.

I do not think it is government as the driving force, rather other folks with vested interest of their own that is currently in opposition with smaller scale poultry keeping. The government is the medium through which those other parties must get their way, or not.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

There is nothing outlining what the proposed regulations are. I live in an area where chickens are regulated by the local government. Nothing they require is outlandish and they do address many of the points the article mentions. Essentially I have a license to keep chickens. Animal Control paid my property a visit to check their living conditions. They have a record of who I am and can visit at any time to make sure things are sanitary and the animals appear healthy. If a neighbor complains about smell or noise, Animal Control may stop by just as they would with a complaint about any other animal. There are required setbacks to the property line in terms of coop placement as there is with any other type of structure (shed/garage/etc.) As a responsible animal owner I don't feel that these regulations are oppressive or infringing on my rights. They seem to exist in a way that has the well-being of the animals in mind as well as the sanitation of the neighborhood. There are separate (but related) regulations about composting and location and size of compost pile in relation to property lines and other structures. I may be going against the grain when I say that regulations are not inherently a bad thing.

That is why we left a "Suburban" area of our County. Neighbors can be hypocrites. My chickens are a noise nuisance to a neighbor who never stops their dogs from barking 18 hours a day.

 

[PirateGirl]

That is why we left a "Suburban" area of our County. Neighbors can be hypocrites. My chickens are a noise nuisance to a neighbor who never stops their dogs from barking 18 hours a day.

Bad neighbors are bad neighbors, it doesn't make the laws bad. Every day I drive to work there are bad drivers, but I don't think they should change the laws to allow for passing on blind corners and increase the speed limit. The laws are there for our safety and well being and the more people that respect them, the better they work. There are two sides to every coin and having laws to regulate chickens isn't inherently a bad thing. Generally speaking, people who are responsible likely have very little to worry about.