You may be surprised to learn there are chickens tucked away across backyards all over city neighborhoods.
Don’t be surprised to possibly see more coming.
The Pinellas County Commission held a public hearing on whether to loosen rules on backyard chickens. The official vote won't come until Dec. 20, but there's a lot of support right now in Pinellas County to make backyard coops legal across the county.
The Bates family is in support.
"It's more about the education of it,” Kelli Bates said. "It's also about the health of it that we are taking care of our food.”
They don't live on a farm. These are backyard animals living the city life in St Petersburg.
"They are very easy to take care of,” Bates said. “They don't take a lot of tender love and care.”
In fact, their chicken coup takes up about the same amount of space as a swing set would.
"We get really great, just fresh eggs laid right there that day," Bates added.
The chickens could have free range of a backyard, but they are going to lay the eggs right inside their coup. In the spring and summer, the Bates’ 19 hens lay up to 20 eggs per day.
It's legal at their home in St Petersburg, but some chickens have been hiding out in garages – in sections of Pinellas County where raising them at home is against the law. Well, at least for now.
According to the county’s 4H extension agent, there's a lot of interest in at-home coops.
Of course, that can also bring clucking, which is a noise your neighbors might not be fond of. There's the issue of that smell, too. Those are the two biggest concerns against backyard coops.
Bates said she hasn't had any problems with her neighbors. One reason may be her old-fashioned hospitality.
"We've actually gone door to door asking our neighbors, ‘Do you mind if we have chickens?’ Here are some fresh eggs," she said.
There seems to be a lot of support for this within the county commission. A lot of residents are curious what it takes to get started.
The basics are a fence and some chicken wire for containment and some wood to build a nesting box.
The Bates family said they use fresh soil that's raked frequently to keep the smell down.
2011年12月7日星期三
2011年5月4日星期三
Mindless vandals trash Bretton school playhouse
A PRE-SCHOOL has been left counting the cost of a “mindless” act of vandalism after yobs trashed a playhouse bought in memory of a late chairman.
Callous vandals smashed the doors and windows of the two-storey wooden building at Bretton Community Pre-School, in Watergall, Peterborough, which was built as a memorial to Margaret Crampton who worked there for 30 years.
The vandals also damaged a chicken coop, which was donated to the pre-school following an appeal in the Evening Telegraph, and even cruelly smashed eggs waiting to hatch.
Deputy manager Deb Ritchie described the attack as “mindless vandalism”.
She said: “It’s senseless, they have not stolen anything.”
It is damage the not-for-profit organisation can ill afford and it has issued an appeal to the community for help to repair the damage.
The vandalism carries an additional emotional impact in that it has targeted the memory of a beloved former colleague.
Mrs Crampton, known affectionately as Meg, joined the pre-school in 1975 and stayed with the charity until 2002, when she was forced to retire due to ill health.
She continued however as its chairman, passing away in 2007 at the age of 65, and soon afterwards her family donated £500 to the pre-school to pay for the playhouse.
Her widower, Doug Crampton (68), of Werrington, said the pre-school was “almost a second home” to his wife.
He said: “She put so much effort into that place, she just enjoyed it, she just loved being around the kids.”
Mr Crampton added he thought it was unlikely the vandals knew of the sentimental attachment to the building.
He said: “If I thought for one moment they knew what they were doing I would be stuck for words you would be able to print. The fact is it’s mindless, wanton and unthinking.
“It’s typical of a small group of unparented, unthinking idiots.”
The damage was reported to police in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “This is a mindless act of vandalism which has left the children without a playhouse and we would urge anyone with information about those responsible to contact police.”
Callous vandals smashed the doors and windows of the two-storey wooden building at Bretton Community Pre-School, in Watergall, Peterborough, which was built as a memorial to Margaret Crampton who worked there for 30 years.
The vandals also damaged a chicken coop, which was donated to the pre-school following an appeal in the Evening Telegraph, and even cruelly smashed eggs waiting to hatch.
Deputy manager Deb Ritchie described the attack as “mindless vandalism”.
She said: “It’s senseless, they have not stolen anything.”
It is damage the not-for-profit organisation can ill afford and it has issued an appeal to the community for help to repair the damage.
The vandalism carries an additional emotional impact in that it has targeted the memory of a beloved former colleague.
Mrs Crampton, known affectionately as Meg, joined the pre-school in 1975 and stayed with the charity until 2002, when she was forced to retire due to ill health.
She continued however as its chairman, passing away in 2007 at the age of 65, and soon afterwards her family donated £500 to the pre-school to pay for the playhouse.
Her widower, Doug Crampton (68), of Werrington, said the pre-school was “almost a second home” to his wife.
He said: “She put so much effort into that place, she just enjoyed it, she just loved being around the kids.”
Mr Crampton added he thought it was unlikely the vandals knew of the sentimental attachment to the building.
He said: “If I thought for one moment they knew what they were doing I would be stuck for words you would be able to print. The fact is it’s mindless, wanton and unthinking.
“It’s typical of a small group of unparented, unthinking idiots.”
The damage was reported to police in the early hours of Sunday morning.
A Cambridgeshire police spokeswoman said: “This is a mindless act of vandalism which has left the children without a playhouse and we would urge anyone with information about those responsible to contact police.”
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