Chicken-hater trying to kill my buzz! (Auburn, AL)

[Auburnchick]

I just stopped by a local place that sells sheds. They had some scratch-and-dents that I thought might make a good starting point for a coop. I told the guy what I was thinking about, and that it looked like the local ban on backyard chickens was about to be lifted.

He said that he goes to all the city council meetings and that a source he couldn't reveal

had told him that the zoning amendment will never pass the city council. He also said that he used to keep chickens and that if I got chickens I would regret it!!! He went on about how stinky and dirty they were....

It just made me feel blue. I *so* hope he is wrong about the city council. Everyone else I have talked to has seemed very optimistic.

I did NOT buy one of his sheds....not enough ventilation.

 

[HenPenny]

Well if his chickens were dirty and stinky it's because he didn't take very good care of them. Also I wouldn't pay much attention about "that a source he couldn't reveal " If he couldn't tell you who it was then it is nobody of importance. Otherwise you would have gotten the name. Stay positive your good well attititude will make a difference.
Good luck.

 

[stoneeater]

Some people are just like that. They're lives must be misrable.

 

[cindylo]

my city of 50,000 only began allowing backyard chickens in the past few months. the rules permit up to six hens, no roosters, and kept on the property at all times. I have the only pullets in the neighborhood. My goal is to demonstrate what good neighbors chickens can be, so they have a cute, clean coop, a secure, clean run, a free range period just before dusk. So far, so good. The next door neighbors are taking an interest in the girls, and want to see the first egg, etc. give the chicken cops positive PR and engage like minded pro chicken folks to be active citizens at city council meetings. Best of luck to you.

 

[speckledhen]

If chickens are dirty and stinky, it's the owner's fault, every single time, no question. They groom themselves constantly. If they are penned in filth that never gets cleaned up and can't get out of it, that isn't their fault, now is it? Sounds like the guy was blowing smoke.

 

[flnatv]

Don't let him discourage you....

And

from an Auburn Graduate "91

 

[Meghalu]

And if the ordinance doesn't get changed, just keep them illegally like half the urban folks on this forum.

 

[raymarkson]

Quote:
Absolutely! I have had chickens for over a year now and have not had a single problem with smell. It's not just me either, everyone who has been to my house and seen my chickens is always impressed with how clean and not-smelly their coop is. I am always happy when I can dispel this misconception that people have about the keeping of these animals. All I have to do is show them what chicken keeping looks like when it’s done the right way.

At the moment, I am trying to change the ordinances in my town too. I have rallied together a large group of people in my community (via facebook) to urge our elected officials to change the ordinances. Thirty of us went to a city council meeting in April, all in yellow shirts, to give a visual statement to the mayor and council. The idea was well received and a proposed ordinance change was drafted, which will be voted on at a city council meeting in August. Until then, the city manager went on record to say that code enforcement officers will not enforce the current ordinance until everything is sorted out. It also helped to find out the both the mayor and the councilman from my district want to have backyard chickens also.

Good luck on your attempt to change the law in Auburn… and keep in mind that facebook can be a useful tool to find likeminded people on this issue in your area.

 

[chickortreat]

Quote:
x2! You might consider starting an "Underground Chicken Club" and sell T-shirts, caps and other paraphernalia.

Of all the ignorant bliss, laws against chickens. Wow, Auburn must be a really safe place to live, what with no outlaw chickens roaming the streets. Nothing worse than being mugged and having to admit to the cops, "It was a gang of chickens, honest! Why the leader had spurs at least two inches long!" Such crime must be irradicated at all costs......

 

[CrazyChickensEverwhere]

the guy must have been smelling his own body odor when he walked into his coop.