This weeks guest post is by Aaron Rosenzweig!
I recently heard a story about a person who was playing with chickens in her front yard (three of them) and then animal control showed up. She hurriedly took her chickens into the back yard. Why was she afraid? Turns out, animal control came out to investigate her neighbor whom had a dog bite complaint. If she was playing with a puppy in her front yard, I bet she wouldn’t have run away. Why is that?
Are people afraid of noise? of stench? of disease? of roosters crowing? Or do they just not want to think about the food that they eat actually being someone’s pet… maybe it is just too real for them.
Whatever the reasons are, they aren’t very good.
Dogs bark at 90 decibels, the same as a rooster, the same as a lawn mower. Yet we don’t come down hard on dogs do we. If a dog is barking too much, general noise nuisance laws can be used. That seems fair. So why do so many municipalities who *do* allow chickens just outright ban roosters? If it is the crowing, couldn’t the general noise ordinances suffice? The same as dogs? Why single out any animal… or even a particular gender of a particular animal?
Truth is, roosters can be quiet. By putting a rudimentary collar on them which is snug (not tight) their crow will lose all its volume. It’s true, it works and it is humane. I have doctors vouching for it. You can read more at my website: http://www.liftroosterban.com. We all fear that some of our “girls” might turn out to be roosters. We shouldn’t have to fear this anymore. They shouldn’t have to become stew.
Once we ban roosters, it’s a slippery slope. If they aren’t crowing, what is the problem? If they aren’t crowing, how do you know for sure it’s a rooster? Also… some hens actually crow, most people don’t realize that. Watch as I try to get city council members to pretend to be animal control officers who must enforce a rooster ban just by looking at the birds.
I live in a town that allows 6 hens, no roosters. One of my hens turned out to be a rooster; however, he has never created a noise complaint. All my immediate neighbors love him and his gals. Still, the city wants to take him away because “rules are rules.” How is this fair to the 50% of chicken births that are roosters? Why can’t they have a chance at happiness? If they aren’t causing a nuisance, they should be allowed to live. So I created a petition: https://www.change.org/p/city-of-gaithersburg-maryland-lift-rooster-ban.
Many municipalities and covenants outright ban chickens altogether. Where does this deep seated resentment of chickens come from? How far will cities go to erase them from view? Apparently pretty far. I am reminded of the plight of Andrew Wordes and the city of Roswell Georgia. He actually got not only the Mayor but also the former governor to help him win his legal battle in court to ensure his right to raise chickens. He won only to lose because the city found ways to push him around until he couldn’t stand up anymore. You can read more here.
These cases are not so strange which is the scary part. There is so much aggression towards chickens which just boggles my mind.
Here’s another example: Margy Stancill and Montgomery County Maryland.
Why did this family have to go to court to protect her right to own chickens? Why did she have to argue that her handful of birds were “pets” in order to keep them? Why, even after all of that, did the county come after her again using an “Aviary” section of their codes to still say she cannot have chickens?
The world is getting more crowded, yet New York doesn’t limit the number of chickens you can own and they don’t really enforce a rooster ban unless your Roo is waking everyone up. So it’s not that it’s a “real” issue, it’s a made up one. The cities that outlaw chickens are not really cities at all, they are just suburban municipalities with white picket fences and chemically treated lawns. There’s the rub. Some citizens look down on those who keep chickens. They don’t recognize them as pets. They think they belong on a farm. Why must we codify this “hate” into law at the municipal level? If you want that much control over your neighbors, why don’t you live in an HOA community? It seems unconstitutional to me but I’m not a lawyer and I do not play one on TV. Still, this is wrong at a very basic level.
In closing I leave you with a poster from USDA in 1918. The world is not that much different today. I don’t feel this poster has an expiration date. Take a look and smile at it’s simple and just thinking. Remember that a nation whose citizens know how to feed themselves is a really strong nation. It wasn’t bullets that gave us the edge in World War II, it was the chicken. Pound for pound, eggs are better than any meat. Please sign my petition and discuss these topics with friends. It’s time we stood up for what is right.
Are people afraid of noise? of stench? of disease? of roosters crowing? Or do they just not want to think about the food that they eat actually being someone’s pet… maybe it is just too real for them.
Whatever the reasons are, they aren’t very good.
Dogs bark at 90 decibels, the same as a rooster, the same as a lawn mower. Yet we don’t come down hard on dogs do we. If a dog is barking too much, general noise nuisance laws can be used. That seems fair. So why do so many municipalities who *do* allow chickens just outright ban roosters? If it is the crowing, couldn’t the general noise ordinances suffice? The same as dogs? Why single out any animal… or even a particular gender of a particular animal?
Truth is, roosters can be quiet. By putting a rudimentary collar on them which is snug (not tight) their crow will lose all its volume. It’s true, it works and it is humane. I have doctors vouching for it. You can read more at my website: http://www.liftroosterban.com. We all fear that some of our “girls” might turn out to be roosters. We shouldn’t have to fear this anymore. They shouldn’t have to become stew.
Once we ban roosters, it’s a slippery slope. If they aren’t crowing, what is the problem? If they aren’t crowing, how do you know for sure it’s a rooster? Also… some hens actually crow, most people don’t realize that. Watch as I try to get city council members to pretend to be animal control officers who must enforce a rooster ban just by looking at the birds.
I live in a town that allows 6 hens, no roosters. One of my hens turned out to be a rooster; however, he has never created a noise complaint. All my immediate neighbors love him and his gals. Still, the city wants to take him away because “rules are rules.” How is this fair to the 50% of chicken births that are roosters? Why can’t they have a chance at happiness? If they aren’t causing a nuisance, they should be allowed to live. So I created a petition: https://www.change.org/p/city-of-gaithersburg-maryland-lift-rooster-ban.
Many municipalities and covenants outright ban chickens altogether. Where does this deep seated resentment of chickens come from? How far will cities go to erase them from view? Apparently pretty far. I am reminded of the plight of Andrew Wordes and the city of Roswell Georgia. He actually got not only the Mayor but also the former governor to help him win his legal battle in court to ensure his right to raise chickens. He won only to lose because the city found ways to push him around until he couldn’t stand up anymore. You can read more here.
These cases are not so strange which is the scary part. There is so much aggression towards chickens which just boggles my mind.
Here’s another example: Margy Stancill and Montgomery County Maryland.
Why did this family have to go to court to protect her right to own chickens? Why did she have to argue that her handful of birds were “pets” in order to keep them? Why, even after all of that, did the county come after her again using an “Aviary” section of their codes to still say she cannot have chickens?
The world is getting more crowded, yet New York doesn’t limit the number of chickens you can own and they don’t really enforce a rooster ban unless your Roo is waking everyone up. So it’s not that it’s a “real” issue, it’s a made up one. The cities that outlaw chickens are not really cities at all, they are just suburban municipalities with white picket fences and chemically treated lawns. There’s the rub. Some citizens look down on those who keep chickens. They don’t recognize them as pets. They think they belong on a farm. Why must we codify this “hate” into law at the municipal level? If you want that much control over your neighbors, why don’t you live in an HOA community? It seems unconstitutional to me but I’m not a lawyer and I do not play one on TV. Still, this is wrong at a very basic level.
In closing I leave you with a poster from USDA in 1918. The world is not that much different today. I don’t feel this poster has an expiration date. Take a look and smile at it’s simple and just thinking. Remember that a nation whose citizens know how to feed themselves is a really strong nation. It wasn’t bullets that gave us the edge in World War II, it was the chicken. Pound for pound, eggs are better than any meat. Please sign my petition and discuss these topics with friends. It’s time we stood up for what is right.
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