Making Chickens Legal

Changing the laws in places that currently prohibit backyard chickens often comes up. Backyard Poultry magazine has a good article on the practical politics of getting the votes to change the laws.

KT LaBadie researched local ordinances for a paper at the University of New Mexico. It's available on the Internet. She looked at 25 cities and found each one handled the issue in a slightly different way from the others.  This attractive flock of mostly Faverolles lives in California.

She concludes: "Many cities and towns are now looking at how they can be more sustainable, and allowing urban chickens is one step towards that goal of increased sustainability. Not only can backyard chickens provide residents with fresh and important food source, but they also bring about an increased awareness of our relationship to the food cycle. By forming a just and well thought out pro-chicken ordinance, cities can allow citizens the right to keep chickens while also addressing the concerns of other stakeholder groups. With that said, city councils should approach the issue of urban chicken keeping with a 'how'  rather than a 'yes' or 'no,' as a growing list of pro-chicken cities across the nation shows that it can be done successfully."

This is a helpful resource for moving communities into serving their residents, both those who want to keep chickens and those who have their doubts.