A few years ago, the idea of allowing city residents to keep and raise chickens in their backyards would have been unthinkable. Since then, however, local food and sustainable food movements – like Chattanooga’s Gaining Ground movement – have taken root in cities and towns across the country . If the City Council gives the concept of raising hens due consideration today, Chattanoogans also should soon be able to enjoy fresh eggs from their own backyard hen coops.
Some City Council members may find the idea of re-introducing chickens – specifically hens, not dawn-heralding roosters – an unusual idea. Most cities eschewed such practices many decades ago when they sought to fence farm animals out of cities. Some residents may still associate having a clutch of hens in a neighbor’s backyard with a disagreeable relic of our agricultural past.
Fortunately, advocates of allowing chicken coops in neighborhood settings are well equipped to refute old myths about unpleasantness of keeping chickens, and to educate us anew to their value.
Research, it turns out, has shown that chickens are not noisy nor are they inherently messy, smelly, prone to carry diseases or apt to attract rodents. Indeed, cats and dogs, and their worms, waste and diseases, are a lot more troublesome and problematic than are hens that are properly kept and cared for. The benefits of allowing hens to be raised in an urban family setting, on the other hand, are enormous.
Among the primary benefits are the potential for fresher, healthier eggs and meat, for family lessons in sustainable and healthier foods, and for the introduction to the broader range of food-source issues that are needed to combat obesity and addiction to fast foods. In fact, the connection of backyard hen coops and gardens to a range of fresher, healthier foods may be immensely helpful in building a healthier population.
Many communities across the nation support the inherent value of local food movements specifically to improve health and local economies. Re-establishing our local-food economy (i.e., choosing local produce and meats instead of lettuce from California, tomatoes from Mexico, apples from Chile and beef from Montana) would keep hundreds of millions of dollars circulating at home that otherwise is sent away.
It also would reduce the energy cost and pollution of the 1,500-mile average distance for food transported to our stores. And it would help reduce reliance on large factory farms, tightly caged animals given unhealthy doses of hormones and antibiotics, and preservative-laden foods.
Seen in that context, the ordinance related to raising hens that the city is being asked to approve is not just a step toward a new type of backyard pets. It actually is milestone on the way back to more healthful, fresher foods, and learning why that is important both to our health and our pocketbook.
In any case, the new ordinance to be taken up today should allay any concerns about chicken keeping, health issues and property values.
It calls for a limit of 15 chickens, and use of chicken-friendly/rodent-proof coops that are no higher than eight feet and no larger than 40 square feet; that have a footprint that allows each hen at least three square feet per coop; and that are located in backyards and fenced from view. It also would require secure feed containers, standards for waste control and a permit issued by the McKamey Animal Center.
The standards, and the concept, make sense, and should make the ordinance acceptable. The larger benefits will become more apparent as more people here move from fresher, tastier eggs to a host of other fresher, healthier, local foods.