I am not sure why we should get so angry about this or so accusative. What really does that do for the solution? I don't think coming here and reading these insults would make the Grand Rapids officials delighted to allow chickens there. And they are actually LIKELY to come here. This site is well known and often recommended as a resource. Would you be more likely to allow something if you were being called names? No.
Some communities are going to allow chickens and some not. I'm not sure this is always due to 'big time politicians' or 'dishonesty'. There seems to be a real bias here toward we should be allowed to keep chickens anywhere and if we can't, sneak 'em in or call the officials bad names. I'm not sure I really think that's the best way to deal with this issue. I'm also not at all sure, that chickens should be allowed everywhere, in every town.
GR is a very old fashioned town in an agricultural area of the state and currently, a very poor one.
It's STILL cheaper for people to buy eggs than to raise chickens, raising their own chickens for eggs isn't really the solution for people that are poor. How do you go to a feed store 25 mi away if you don't have a car and the bus doesn't go there? And how do you pay 13 dollars or more a bag for feed at a suburban feed store? You have to support the chickens for 4 months or more without any eggs being produced as well, and during times when they're out of lay.
Yes, the poor deserve good quality food but they can buy commercial eggs cheaper or health food store eggs for more, and still save money over having their own chickens. My family doesn't have to make a profit to get our real estate tax reduced, all we have to do is sell farm products. It suits us because of what our real estate tax is, for most people it is only a losing proposition.
And frankly, I've seen more than one study now in which commercial egg operations are cleaner than the other types. So I think those claims that backyard is better cleanliness-wise, are probably not supportable.
When you have chickens in your small yard, you have runoff of manure, no matter how tidy you are. That runoff goes into your neighbor's yard. This is how small properties are. I'm not sure the solution is keeping them in the garage all the time. These animals need space and sunshine and some grazing isn't bad for them either.
