Feathers flew and squawking was heard in the town board chambers last Monday night.
And all for some chickens.
After the Nov. 7 work session, which seemed to resolve the lingering chicken-keeping questions, last Monday’s regular session saw the issue blow up again, and instead of passing an ordinance extending chicken-keeping rights in town for another year, the town board tabled the ordinance until the Nov. 28 meeting.
“There’s been an exorbitant amount of time spent on this,” said board member Kristie Melendez during the discussion.
A proposal to allow the raising of backyard chickens inside town limits was brought to the board during a meeting in April 2010 by Jared and Ashley Schwader. The couple put together a packet of information that debunked myths and suggested regulations for keeping chickens.
The ordinance allowed residents to keep up to six hens, but no roosters, per property in town. Other requirements include the size of coops and neighbor notification if the coop is going to be located less than 15 feet from the property line.
The ordinance was set to sunset on Jan. 1, 2012.
So at the Nov. 7 work session, the town board took a look at the ordinance and agreed on a couple of changes.
The first change defined a chicken as a bird of a certain species from the moment of its birth, to clear up confusion over whether a non-laying chicken was still a chicken.
The second change dealt with coop removal if a chicken-keeping permit was revoked or the owner ceased keeping chickens for six months.
The sunset clause was also retained, meaning the board would discuss whether to keep chickens in town for another year in Nov. 2012.
Town Attorney Ian McCargar also added language bringing the maximum fine up to $1,000, which is in keeping with the rest of the fines charged since the town made the transition to a court of record.
“That’s not to say that amount has to be charged; it’s just the maximum,” McCargar said.
But the discussion went a-fowl last Monday.
Mayor John Vazquez, who was not present for the work session, was concerned about the strict limit on the number of birds.
“It makes sense to me to allow for a certain number of chicks to replace chickens who no longer lay,” Vazquez said. “People need to maintain their flocks.”
Vazquez was also unhappy that the sunset clause had been retained.
“We don’t have any other ordinances with sunset clauses,” he said.
Board member Don Thompson suggested allowing residents to keep several chicks until they reach the age to lay eggs, at which point the previously agreed-upon number of six would kick in.
Board member Robert Bishop-Cotner was not in favor of that suggestion.
“Why did we do this?” he asked. “We were trying to allow people to keep a few chickens, not run chicken businesses.”
There are 28 chicken-keeping permits that have been issued in the town, and of those, three have caused problems. One of those three is currently in municipal court.
Board member Don Shanfelt said he thought the board was creating a code enforcement nightmare.
“Are we going to ask our officers to check out the birds to make sure people are complying?” he asked. “How are you going to enforce this?”
He went on to say that his concern is not about the chicken-keepers who have not caused problems, but those who are.
Melendez suggested taking out all the suggested changes except the one about the fines.
“We can extend this another year and look at it more later if needed,” she said.
Vazquez told the board he would vote no on the ordinance in that case.
“There’s no consideration for future stock, and the sunset clause is not necessary.”
McCargar said he would bring the ordinance back at the end of the month.
2011年11月16日星期三
2011年11月6日星期日
Bear in famed photo ID’d as troublemaker
She covered a wide swath of New Mexico over the past 10 year, between wandering on her own and being relocated by state wildlife crews.
Along the way, she earned a rap sheet "as long as her arm," wildlife officials say.
But after a troubled youth in the foothills east of Albuquerque, the bear appears to have retired to the quiet shores of Lake Navajo. State wildlife officials say the infamous bear also is the Mama Bear who gained popularity here this summer after a fisherman’s photograph of her ferrying her cub across the mile-wide lake was picked up by area newspapers and television stations.
The bear’s true identity — and troubled past — were revealed this week in the fall issue of New Mexico Wildlife. She was identified by a photo that captured the green tag in her ear.
Bear No. 56 grew up in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, turning to trouble in 2002. That’s the year she was picked up at least four times for raiding trash cans, chicken coops — and sometimes houses — in the small mountain community of Tijeras. She first was tagged as Bear No. 770 but she lost that tag, along with a piece of her ear, early on.
On her fourth recorded encounter with the law, Bear No. 56 was chased up a tree and tranquilized. After that, officers decided to relocate her to the Zuni Mountains, about 100 miles to the west.
That was the last anyone heard of the bear until Aug. 4, when Mark Meier, a retiree from Arboles, Colo., spotted her swimming across northwest New Mexico’s Navajo Lake with her cub on her back.
"This bear has really gotten around," said Rick Winslow, the state wildlife department’s large carnivore biologist. "Our records show she was caught and relocated at least four, and likely five times."
The amount of territory she has covered on her own also is remarkable, Winslow said. The lake is about 150 miles from where she was last dropped off.
Perhaps even more extraordinary, Winslow says, it that Bear No. 56 was never euthanized after becoming so habituated to humans and causing so much trouble in the summer of 2002. Problem bears are usually put down after three strikes.
"There have been bears that we’ve relocated numerous times — for various reasons," he said. "This definitely is one well-traveled — and lucky — bear."
Along the way, she earned a rap sheet "as long as her arm," wildlife officials say.
But after a troubled youth in the foothills east of Albuquerque, the bear appears to have retired to the quiet shores of Lake Navajo. State wildlife officials say the infamous bear also is the Mama Bear who gained popularity here this summer after a fisherman’s photograph of her ferrying her cub across the mile-wide lake was picked up by area newspapers and television stations.
The bear’s true identity — and troubled past — were revealed this week in the fall issue of New Mexico Wildlife. She was identified by a photo that captured the green tag in her ear.
Bear No. 56 grew up in the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, turning to trouble in 2002. That’s the year she was picked up at least four times for raiding trash cans, chicken coops — and sometimes houses — in the small mountain community of Tijeras. She first was tagged as Bear No. 770 but she lost that tag, along with a piece of her ear, early on.
On her fourth recorded encounter with the law, Bear No. 56 was chased up a tree and tranquilized. After that, officers decided to relocate her to the Zuni Mountains, about 100 miles to the west.
That was the last anyone heard of the bear until Aug. 4, when Mark Meier, a retiree from Arboles, Colo., spotted her swimming across northwest New Mexico’s Navajo Lake with her cub on her back.
"This bear has really gotten around," said Rick Winslow, the state wildlife department’s large carnivore biologist. "Our records show she was caught and relocated at least four, and likely five times."
The amount of territory she has covered on her own also is remarkable, Winslow said. The lake is about 150 miles from where she was last dropped off.
Perhaps even more extraordinary, Winslow says, it that Bear No. 56 was never euthanized after becoming so habituated to humans and causing so much trouble in the summer of 2002. Problem bears are usually put down after three strikes.
"There have been bears that we’ve relocated numerous times — for various reasons," he said. "This definitely is one well-traveled — and lucky — bear."
2011年9月29日星期四
Bronx neighbors are staging a coop at urban chicken farms
"Today is my first day as a chicken farmer!" crows Lily Kesselman, who is cradling a speckled hen in a lush garden where rows of bell peppers, collard greens and string beans are flourishing on a late Indian summer afternoon.
Behind her, 14 more biddies scratch the dirt in their freshly dug run and explore their coop built by Kesselman and her peeps just the week before.
Neighbors rotate through the hen house to coo over their new feathered friends before signing up for shifts to feed the birds and clean the coop.
Pretty bucolic for the South Bronx, no?
It gets better:
The 4½-month-old hens, a crossbreed of Rhode Island Red and White Leghorn, were hatched from eggs tended by public school students as part of the Queens County Farm Museum's 21-Day Eggs-periment program.
The farm then reared the chicks before donating them to the Friends of Brook Park in Mott Haven, where community members and "chicken deputies" from local schools will now take over caring for the flock.
"These are New York birds, through and through," says Owen Taylor from the Just Food organization's City Chickens Project.
Taylor launched the City Chickens Project in 2005. It provides training, materials and chickens to help make fresh, locally grown food accessible to New Yorkers.
They've set up 14 chicken coops from Bedford Stuyvesant to East Harlem over the past six years as chicken-rearing has become an increasingly popular part of the urban farm movement. More than 530 members have also joined the New York City Chicken Keepers Meet-up group online.
"Raising chickens in New York City is not unusual," says Taylor. "It's legal, it's sanitary, and if anything, we're going back to normal, to the city's agricultural roots, when everyone used to own their own chickens."
Kesselman first hatched the idea for a backyard chicken run more than a year ago as she became more involved in the Brook Park community garden.
"I am very dedicated to my neighborhood," she says, "and I started thinking that this could be a fun project for the garden."
As she read up on the benefits of owning chickens - the birds aerate and fertilize garden soil, compost kitchen scraps and control the bug population - she realized they could be a great educational tool for kids hooked on sugary drinks and processed foods.
"It's a great way to get neighborhood kids into healthier food by getting them to meet the chickens, interact with them and understand where [our] food comes from," she says.
Together, Taylor and Kesselman scored a $700 grant from the Citizens Committee for New York City to pay for their coop. Kesselman raised another $750 by launching a sponsorship program online, where neighbors and classrooms paid $50 to name a chicken. The money goes toward feed, the project's biggest expense. The 15 birds will run through a 50-pound bag of feed (about $20 apiece) every month.
The sponsors also get a glossy 4-by-6 photo of their hen provided by Kesselman, a professional photographer.
The community is already fussing over the new chicks on the block, which they hope will provide up to 4,300 eggs per year (to be doled out on the honor system) once the hens begin laying in the next month or so.
"Oh my goodness, I'm holding a chicken!" laughs high school sophomore Amanda Johnson, 15, who is using her service hours in the park for a class volunteer project. "It's just so funny. The only time you ever see chickens in the Bronx is on a menu."
Behind her, 14 more biddies scratch the dirt in their freshly dug run and explore their coop built by Kesselman and her peeps just the week before.
Neighbors rotate through the hen house to coo over their new feathered friends before signing up for shifts to feed the birds and clean the coop.
Pretty bucolic for the South Bronx, no?
It gets better:
The 4½-month-old hens, a crossbreed of Rhode Island Red and White Leghorn, were hatched from eggs tended by public school students as part of the Queens County Farm Museum's 21-Day Eggs-periment program.
The farm then reared the chicks before donating them to the Friends of Brook Park in Mott Haven, where community members and "chicken deputies" from local schools will now take over caring for the flock.
"These are New York birds, through and through," says Owen Taylor from the Just Food organization's City Chickens Project.
Taylor launched the City Chickens Project in 2005. It provides training, materials and chickens to help make fresh, locally grown food accessible to New Yorkers.
They've set up 14 chicken coops from Bedford Stuyvesant to East Harlem over the past six years as chicken-rearing has become an increasingly popular part of the urban farm movement. More than 530 members have also joined the New York City Chicken Keepers Meet-up group online.
"Raising chickens in New York City is not unusual," says Taylor. "It's legal, it's sanitary, and if anything, we're going back to normal, to the city's agricultural roots, when everyone used to own their own chickens."
Kesselman first hatched the idea for a backyard chicken run more than a year ago as she became more involved in the Brook Park community garden.
"I am very dedicated to my neighborhood," she says, "and I started thinking that this could be a fun project for the garden."
As she read up on the benefits of owning chickens - the birds aerate and fertilize garden soil, compost kitchen scraps and control the bug population - she realized they could be a great educational tool for kids hooked on sugary drinks and processed foods.
"It's a great way to get neighborhood kids into healthier food by getting them to meet the chickens, interact with them and understand where [our] food comes from," she says.
Together, Taylor and Kesselman scored a $700 grant from the Citizens Committee for New York City to pay for their coop. Kesselman raised another $750 by launching a sponsorship program online, where neighbors and classrooms paid $50 to name a chicken. The money goes toward feed, the project's biggest expense. The 15 birds will run through a 50-pound bag of feed (about $20 apiece) every month.
The sponsors also get a glossy 4-by-6 photo of their hen provided by Kesselman, a professional photographer.
The community is already fussing over the new chicks on the block, which they hope will provide up to 4,300 eggs per year (to be doled out on the honor system) once the hens begin laying in the next month or so.
"Oh my goodness, I'm holding a chicken!" laughs high school sophomore Amanda Johnson, 15, who is using her service hours in the park for a class volunteer project. "It's just so funny. The only time you ever see chickens in the Bronx is on a menu."
2011年4月23日星期六
Urban chickens get test run in Fredericton
Fredericton has passed a variance on a bylaw to temporarily allow urban chickens in the New Brunswick city.
The pilot program was launched this week and will permit a few residents to set up backyard chicken coops for one year. The bylaw will then be reassessed.
Fredericton joins more than 300 North American cities allowing urban chickens. The issue has also been a hot-button topic in Halifax, where urban chickens remain prohibited.
Natalie Dunn and her husband Phil Cyr will be among the chicken pioneers. They plan to install a chicken coop in their backyard to house three egg-laying birds.
"I was very surprised myself. You always think that it's not something that the city would want — we are not farmers," Dunn said Friday.
Dunn and her husband are eager to have their own chickens so they can be more self-sufficient and environmentally friendly.
"It's just a way for us to live more sustainably, [to] know where our food comes from," she said. "It's kind of like a hobby for [Cyr]. He grows vegetables and now eggs."
Concerns about smell, hygiene
Fredericton councillor Jordan Graham said council had heard from people opposed to urban chickens.
"Some of it was about the hygiene of it, others was the smell that might come from it, and then others simply were concerned that there might be a nuisance having a potential noisy chicken coop next door," he said.
Graham said after the year-long pilot runs its course, council will reconsider its stance on urban chickens.
"After one year we will be able to re-evaluate everything. We will be able to see if there are rules that need to be put in place, or if it should discontinued," he said.
The pilot program was launched this week and will permit a few residents to set up backyard chicken coops for one year. The bylaw will then be reassessed.
Fredericton joins more than 300 North American cities allowing urban chickens. The issue has also been a hot-button topic in Halifax, where urban chickens remain prohibited.
Natalie Dunn and her husband Phil Cyr will be among the chicken pioneers. They plan to install a chicken coop in their backyard to house three egg-laying birds.
"I was very surprised myself. You always think that it's not something that the city would want — we are not farmers," Dunn said Friday.
Dunn and her husband are eager to have their own chickens so they can be more self-sufficient and environmentally friendly.
"It's just a way for us to live more sustainably, [to] know where our food comes from," she said. "It's kind of like a hobby for [Cyr]. He grows vegetables and now eggs."
Concerns about smell, hygiene
Fredericton councillor Jordan Graham said council had heard from people opposed to urban chickens.
"Some of it was about the hygiene of it, others was the smell that might come from it, and then others simply were concerned that there might be a nuisance having a potential noisy chicken coop next door," he said.
Graham said after the year-long pilot runs its course, council will reconsider its stance on urban chickens.
"After one year we will be able to re-evaluate everything. We will be able to see if there are rules that need to be put in place, or if it should discontinued," he said.
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