Running afowl of city ordinance?

On Thursday, Ellen Anthony collected the eggs laid by six of her hens.

Anthony has kept hens - there are now 14 in all and no roosters - in her backyard in a 20-by-20-foot enclosure that includes a small wooden coop for the past 18 years. She's never had a complaint from a neighbor or the city. In fact, a neighbor two doors down keeps chickens as well.

But according to City Planner Harry Smith, keeping chickens is prohibited in New London.

"If it's not expressly provided for in the regulations, then it is prohibited," Smith said Thursday. "It's not provided for in the regulations."

On Thursday night, the Planning and Zoning Commission discussed a letter from Chelsea Ketner of Riverview Avenue, who expressed interest in keeping poultry but wants city approval before going forward.

She's not the only one. Christopher Droesch sent an email Tuesday to The Day to say he had begun collecting materials to keep chickens in the backyard of his New London home only to be rebuffed by someone in the city's Planning, Zoning and Wetlands Department. He attended Thursday's meeting.

Ketner did not attend the meeting, but commission Chairman Mark Christensen addressed her letter, which expressed confusion about the regulations and asked for a "definitive answer."

Christensen said the regulations prohibit the keeping of chickens in New London.

"If an individual is interested, they can apply for a regulation amendment and they can show why (the amendment) is consistent with other communities," he said. "We'll always look at an application and we have a right to say whether it meets the criteria."

Droesch said he had relied on section 4-3 of the city ordinance that states no person may keep chickens "in a manner to be injurious to health, create a menace, or offensive to the public."

When he went to get permits to build a coop, a zoning official directed him to section 410.4, subsection 6, of the zoning regulations: "Keeping of not more than three household pets over six months old; the commercial breeding or boarding of pets is prohibited."

Smith said at the meeting that "the commission determined previously that a chicken is not a household pet and therefore they are prohibited."

That's news to Anthony, who also cited the city's ordinance as her legal right to keep poultry.

On Thursday, Anthony's feathered friends didn't create a menace or appear to be offensive to the public. Quite the opposite: they clucked quietly as she approached. A neighbor, outside for some air, waved when she saw Anthony heading for the coop.

The chickens get a little skittish when Anthony enters the enclosure, but they lay white, brown and even green eggs - enough to provide for Anthony's family and some neighbors and friends.

"When it gets the right level of darkness, they put themselves to sleep," she said. "They don't need a heater in the winter; they just snuggle up close. The real hard part is getting a good house for them."

Her coop is rudimentary but includes laying boxes and rows of wooden dowels over 5-gallon plastic buckets. The chickens sit on the dowels at night and defecate into the buckets, she said, making cleaning easy.

Outside the coop, but within the fence, the ground is bare, picked over by the chickens. But Anthony stirs up the soil so the birds can eat worms and insects in addition to the 50 pounds of feed they eat every three weeks. She changes the water daily and comes out in the morning and at night to check on them, clean up and collect eggs.

Anthony tells of other neighbors who have brought scraps and created a "feeding frenzy" for the birds.

The chickens do have predators, she said, mostly raccoons, which she tries to keep out with the fenced-in enclosure that has a roof. Two or three years ago, she said, a raccoon got into the coop and "massacred" the chickens. One got away and ran into a neighbor's yard, where a Rottweiler roamed. Bird and 100-pound dog sized each other up, Anthony said, before they became friends of sorts. They kept watch of each other in the yard for about six months, she said, until one fateful day when the Rottweiler turned his back and a raccoon killed the chicken.

But the deaths haven't deterred Anthony, who said she's kept chickens for about 22 years. It's an easy way to have good, fresh food in a sustainable manner, she said.

"I like having homegrown eggs, and it makes me go outdoors every day," Anthony said. "I know the weather, the phase of the moon, and I have to take care of the chickens."

Bringing a hen home to roost

IF, DESPITE my dire warnings, you are still determined to buy hens, let us see what they need.

First is a draught-free, dry house. Investing in a poultry magazine such as Fancy Fowl or Practical Poultry and surfing the net (especially on eBay) will reveal a wide range of prices. It pays to shop around.

My favourite is a two-tier house with a run underneath. If you pick an ark-shaped house, choose a solidly-made one. Cheap tongue-and-groove ones are a bad investment. After a year in the rain and wind, the slats fall apart.

Plastic hen houses are available that are easy to clean and do not harbour mites. Only the price puts me off.

Four things can kill chickens: damp, mites, draughts and foxes.

Chickens do not mind the cold. If you slip your hand under the wing of a sleeping chicken, you will find it as warm as toast there.

But sometimes, in very cold weather, cockerels get frostbite on their combs. A little Vaseline will prevent that.

Red mites are a major problem however clean your pens. Where they come from or how they get there, nobody knows. Afflicted birds grow pale with anaemia and may die. Red mites love new wood and new hutches. In the old days, creosoting was the ultimate deterrent. I always take it as a personal affront and become obsessive with red mite spray.

I even know one keeper who goes over his pens with a blowtorch. Vaseline at the end of the perches is another tip – but never along the middle, otherwise the hens will fall off.

Ensure latches are secure and wire walls are well-fixed to keep out foxes. Once they find a tasty chicken they will be back, usually killing more than they need. It can be a very distressing business.

I staple wire beneath pens and runs to prevent foxes digging underneath.

If your hens stay in a pen, ensure they have sufficient room to scratch about and remain active. Bored, cramped chickens pick up nasty habits such as feather-pecking or bullying.

A cauliflower or apple hanging on a string, a few dried meal worms thrown on the ground and plenty of room will keep them busy and happy.

If they are confined, provide them with grit to help them digest their food and a dirt or sand tray to bath in.

There are many recipes for each stage of a chicken's life in old poultrymen's books. Now all the ingredients are in pellets.

Layers' pellets provide all the minerals and protein your hens need. Chick crumbs and growers' pellets are just right for healthy chicks and adolescent birds.

A rough rule is a good handful of pellets per bird per day.

I always have a bag of mixed corn in the shed as a treat later in the day. Never overfeed because waste food encourages rats and mice and you will start to get black looks from the neighbours. Keeping chickens can be fraught with antisocial dangers. I suggest a gift of fresh eggs is the best antidote.

Chickens love treats. Apples, bananas (skin and all chopped up), cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli are favourites. Cooked potatoes, pasta and any fruit will also cause excitement in the coop.

Two things to avoid are avocado and uncooked potato peelings – both can be lethal to chickens.

Percy the peacock shares the same menu of pellets and corn, supplemented by our neighbours' custard creams, digestives and leftover cat food. However, all these extras are treats. Don't overdo them or you will have fat chickens.

A few drops of apple cider vinegar in the water once a month is said to be beneficial and a few drops of cod liver oil in the corn once in a while keeps feathers gleaming. A little of both once a month is enough.

Any spare eggs, either boiled or scrambled and maybe mixed with garlic powder, are also a tonic.

Clean water is essential. Birds drink a surprising amount. Dirty water is a recipe for disaster, especially in the summer.

If you are unfortunate enough to find one of your birds hunched up, looking lethargic or bubbling at the eyes or nostrils, you need to act at once.

My chicken-keeping friends usually have a bottle of Tylan powder or liquid Baytril (both only available on prescription from the vet) in the cupboard alongside the cod liver oil and Vaseline.

Tylan powder must be mixed with a little warm water to ensure it dissolves. Baytril is also diluted as instructed by the vet. Do not eat the eggs of a bird on medication. Both antibiotics are expensive but will go a long way.

If treated as soon as symptoms appear, a chicken will often rally in a day or two. If left untreated, a bird may soon develop respiratory problems, gluey eyes and a running nose.

Watch out for odd behaviour in the coop – you'll soon spot a sickly bird. Then act at once – isolate the bird, medicate and wait for recovery.

Make sleeping quarters snug with shavings or hemp. I don't use hay because it can go slimy. Straw can harbour mites. But find what suits you best and is available.

Fresh eggs and a view

Many would love to wake up each morning to the view outside Steve Dix and Marnie Vail's guest house.

And don't forget the sound of the chickens.

The small, one-bedroom guest house is just a few hundred yards from the walking trails at the foot of Mount Elden, and the dense thicket of trees backing up to their property regularly provides glimpses of deer, elk, foxes, raccoons and other wildlife.

Coupled with Vail's massive inventory of healthy, home-cooked meals sourced from their backyard garden and chicken coop, it is a ready-made vacation.

The retired pilot and doctor are both betting that ecotourists will be willing to spend a little more to stay in their new bed and breakfast after a long day of hiking and biking rather than a hotel.

The couple have spent several months and roughly $2,000 converting the former den in Elden Trails Bed and Breakfast.

The decision to turn their home into A bed and breakfast was in part a financial decision, Dix said.

"When you are over 60, there are not an abundance of jobs out there in the job market," Dix said. "So if you decide you want some income, well then you need to create a job."

Not that either are new to the industry.

"We lived in Vermont for three years and we have good friends there that had a B & B and we started taking overflow from their B & B," Vail said.

Still there were challenges to opening the business.

A massive 11-foot climbing wall behind the main house had to be torn down, primarily out of liability concerns. Vail had a hard time seeing it go.

"I loved the climbing wall. It was one of the perks of buying this place," Vail said.

Despite having the chickens as well as two dogs and a cat, the B&B allows their guests to bring their dogs. Dix said it just made good business sense.

"It is best to be pet-friendly rather than turning business away," Dix said.

In their backyard is a greenhouse and chicken coop where roughly a dozen chickens provide fresh eggs, along with a small outdoor garden.

"It doesn't look like much now, but this summer we'll have a ton of things growing here," Dix said.

A partial list includes: Carrots, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, peas, green beans and some types of herbs.

Using foods from their "mountain micro-farm" is important to Vail.

"One of my big issues is food. What people are eating is not really helping them these days," the retired physician says. "What they sell in the grocery stores isn't very healthy."

She picks a piece of home-baked dessert bread on the kitchen table. The soft bread is coated in powdered sugar, but Vail has baked the bread from scratch, using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible.

"This might not be very healthy, but it won't hurt you," she adds.

Vail is still looking for local food growers in order to cut back even further on trips to the grocery store.

She concedes she has had trouble finding local sources of organic cow milk, pork and handmade soaps.

Chickens a calming influence

Chickens a calming influence; small group allowed in Clayton for 'pet therapy'

Chickadee, Peach, Daisy, Brownie and Daphne get to stay at the Casagrande residence, even if their presence there is technically against the law.

"I am so happy," said Nancy Casagrande. "Now we can legally have them."

The five hens are the pets of 9-year-old Bretten Casagrande who suffers from Tourette syndrome. His parents, Nancy and Larry Casagrande, said the pet chickens are therapeutic and help alleviate Bretten's symptoms as well as provide him comfort.

"He feels safe in the chicken coop," said Casagrande. "I would never have guessed a chicken would be so helpful to a child."

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clayton Planning Commission agreed to a request for "reasonable accommodation" to allow the Casagrandes to keep the birds as long as Bretten lives on the property, or as long as the chickens continue to help improve his symptoms.

Community Development Director David Woltering said by addressing the specific issue, the commissioners' ruling in December made changing the city ordinance moot. Keeping chickens in residential neighborhoods is still forbidden in most instances.

In Walnut Creek, there are specific requirements, but generally, as many as three animals, including poultry (except roosters) may be kept as household pets, with the proper animal permit.

People suffering with Tourette syndrome loudly and uncontrollably spluttering expletive epitaphs makes good cinema, but that kind of outburst is not as common as movies make them out to be, said Casagrande. Mostly, these "tics" are less dramatic, uncontrolled noises and body movements. Bretten has various tics, including making a squeaking sound, bobbing his head and for a while and falling to one knee.

Casagrande said the worst part of Bretten's symptoms is other children's reactions. She remembers once insisting Bretten go outside to play with the neighborhood children rather than observe, but when he did, "they all went away."

Casagrande said one child about the same age as Bretten said, "I don't like Bretten, he does weird things."

"It breaks my heart," she said.

Said Bretten, "The chickens, they don't think I'm weird."

His mother said the bond between boy and his brood maybe their similar tics.

At least once a day, Bretten goes to the chicken coop, a converted dog run, to sit on a small bench and visit with his feathered friends.

"I just like watching them run around," he said. "My favorite is Chickadee. They all run up because they think I have food."

He usually does and feeds them from his hand. When he doesn't have food he said, "They try and eat my hand."

Bretten became fascinated with chickens after a trip to a petting zoo in Pleasanton, and in May 2010 Cassagrande and her husband bought a pair of baby chicks for him.

"He was very excited," Casagrande said. "At that point we didn't think of them as therapy. I didn't know they would help him so much."

She also didn't know Clayton had a law prohibiting the keeping of chickens in residential areas.

The outlaw fowl were brought to the attention of the commission in October after neighbors complained about the smell and noise. A code enforcement officer visited the Casagrande home and determined the source of the odor was two compost bins containing kitchen food waste, organic grass clippings, leaves and chicken droppings left open in the rain.

The Casagrandes removed the composting bins and agreed any future composting bins will be kept closed when it rains and no kitchen food products will be used.

In addition, a small chicken coop visible to neighbors was removed.

The Casagrandes may have no more than five hens -- no roosters -- and they are to be kept in a single coop or covered pen not bigger than 50 square feet or taller than six feet. It must be a minimum of 20 feet from any side or rear property line, and must be cleaned twice daily or more frequently to assure there are no odors bothering the neighbors.

'The Walking Dead' recap: Episode 203, 'Save the Last One'

Things have started getting pretty heavy in "The Walking Dead," not that it was a game of Candy Land before this week's episode, titled "Save the Last One" (referring to a bullet, in case the zombies catch you, so you can go out on your own terms and not theirs!)

If you haven't watched the episode yet, you might not want to read any further because I'm about to discuss some fairly significant plot developments.

Lori Grimes, a.k.a Debbie Downer, strongly considered letting her firstborn son perish so he could stop enduring the endless nightmare, and Shane Walsh took a serious heel turn, capping poor, fat Otis and letting him get devoured by walkers. Not cool, bro, not cool at all.

As if all that existentialism and nihilism wasn't enough to digest, Glenn and Maggie discuss the existence of God on the porch of Greene Manor, where characters really like to stage philosophical debates, it seems.

The action picked up in this week's episode after a pretty slow showing last week, when only one zombie was eradicated. In "Save the Last One," there were around 10 zombies popped before the first commercial break. Shane and Otis were getting after it at the high school, home of the Fighting Cougars, accounting for about 90 percent of the zombie murders. At one point those zombies were really piling up against that chain link fence. It was like teenagers clamoring to get into a Spin Doctors concert in 1992.

I can't quite figure out why exactly Shane did Otis like that, other than that Otis was slowing them down. Or maybe it was a strategic move, using Otis like a big pile of hot dogs to distract the zombies. Either way, Shane was looking at himself pretty long and hard in the mirror when he got back to the farmhouse.

For the record, he did say "I'm sorry" before shooting Otis, and Otis saved a lock of Shane's hair to remember him by.

The maneuver did pay off, allowing Shane to get back to the farmhouse with the medical equipment just in time for Hershel to successfully operate on Carl. Things got worse for Carl before they got better though, as he went through a pretty wicked seizure after reminiscing about the time he almost touched a deer.

Meanwhile, back at the highway, the relationship between Dale and Andrea continues to play out like that of an overbearing father and his icy teenage daughter. To get a little space, Andrea goes off on a little ghost walk with Daryl, leading to one of the coolest scenes of the season so far.

Out in the woods, Daryl and Andrea find a lonely fellow who decided to "quit" by hanging himself. Now he's a zombie and stuck there like a pinata. To add insult to injury, other zombies came along and ate his slacks and leg meat, leaving a pair of skinny, fleshless stilts dangling there for all to see. Nice...

Alas, Daryl and Andrea's search for Sophia turns up empty. So one child saved, one to go. "Save the Last One," get it?

'Scream' queen Neve Campbell returns

Though she has worked steadily in smaller films and theater, Neve Campbell, 37, has largely been off the Hollywood radar for the past decade.

And it seems she wouldn't have it any other way, living single (she and actor John Light divorced recently after three years of marriage) in London's posh Holland Park.

Now she's back, co-starring with Courteney Cox in fan favorite, Scream 4, the latest installment of Wes Craven's horror parody franchise opening April 15. Once again, Campbell's Sidney Prescott finds herself the beleaguered prey of psychopathic killer Ghostface.

We recently caught up with Campbell.

Is it true you initially turned down Scream 4?

"Yeah. I thought we couldn't do it any better [than 2000's Scream 3]. I also didn't think audiences would still be interested! But after some coaxing and a great pitch that it might be something really fun not just for the cast but for audiences as well, [I changed my mind]."

What's the gist this time?

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you a whole lot because I'm sworn to secrecy. But Sidney has come to a point in her life when she's overcome her troubles and has written a self-help book to help people get through their own trauma. But the trouble starts all over again!"

How was it working with the new generation of kids like Emma Roberts and Rory Culkin?

"It was funny because Courteney and I realized at our age, we could be their mothers! I think they were all like 5 when we made the first film."

Is it true this was the first time you and Courteney Cox really bonded?

"Absolutely. We didn't have a lot of scenes together in the other films, and maybe the age gap seemed vaster then. [Cox is 46.] Now I'm more grown up and we have a lot to relate to each other. But I absolutely love that woman."

Did you do your own stunts?

'I had some action sequences where I'm wearing a harness. I actually injured my foot training for the film and did the whole film with a swollen metatarsal."