chickens

They Chickened Out! #fail

December 8, 2011

Well, I’ve been disheartened since Tuesday’s city council meeting because it didn’t end the way I thought it would.  Bottom line: no change to the ordinance banning chickens from Coronado.  Coronado is the only city in San Diego County that doesn’t allow residents to have a few chickens. If you substituted the word “dog” for the word “chicken” this wouldn’t even be an issue.  I thought the reasoning of the mayor and two council members was a bit flimsy, in my opinion.  One council member was ambivalent and one was pro-chicken.  Anyway, it’s not over.  I just have to decide how to proceed.

Coronado.Patch.com summarized the meeting in this online article.  There’s a poll, too.  Toss in your opinion.

Also, if you have a little time on your hands and would like to watch the proceedings of how it all went down, go to this link: Coronado City Council meeting 12-6-11, then scroll down on the right side until you find the agenda item 11f that discusses whether to the change the ordinance to allow chickens.  It’s 40 minutes long, but you can fast forward through as needed, but the video contains an overview of the city staff report about chickens with recommendations, public comment, and the mayor’s and city council’s discussion and final decision.

In the meantime, my rubber chickens will stay hanging on my porch in protest…..

Protest chickens

Protest Chickens!!!

 

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That is the question. Today’s the BIG DAY at City Council!   Will the ordinance be changed to allow chickens in Coronado?  Will the Snowflakes be legal?  I can’t wait to see how this all turns out!

Just to recap:

We received a letter from the city in response to Chicken Little’s written complaint so we went to City Council: Going to the Mat for the Snowflakes

Coronado.Patch.com weighs in: Coronado Chickens

The Snowflakes go viral but not in an avian flu kind of way.

The city enforced the ordinance at the second council meeting: Bummer

My dad wrote a letter to the local newspaper:  A perspective from a resident

My open letter to residents in the local newspaper: Save the Snowflakes!

Chicken Little’s response to my letter: Bah Humbug!

Coronado.Patch.com writes another article: Coming to Roost in Coronado

The City Council agenda is online: Council agenda and appending documents.  It’s a huge document, but if you are interested in reading the City of Coronado staff recommendations to the mayor and council go to #291 of 384 in the PDF toolbar.  I thought it was thorough enough and common sense prevailed.  Basically, it’s looking favorable for the Snowflakes.  An update will follow!  Keep your fingers crossed!!!!

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I realized that it was time to send a letter to the local newspaper regarding the reasons I wanted to have chickens, and address some of the concerns people were voicing about chickens.  The letter as follows:

The Coronado City Council will make a decision about whether to change the current ordinance to allow hobby hens in Coronado at their December 6, 2011 council meeting.   I have kept the subject “punny” in my two speeches to city council in the last few months and have thoroughly enjoyed the responses that my two hens, named the Snowflakes, have brought forth from my fellow citizens.   Almost all of the responses I’ve heard have been positive, but I know there are residents who are not keen on the idea of having chickens in Coronado. Everything has potential to be a problem, but the Optimist in me knows there is a solution to every problem.  What are the obstacles and how do we address them?   I thought it time to address some of the concerns that have been stated. 

When I first entertained the idea of having some hens on my property, I was made aware of the City of Coronado’s ordinance, but decided to move ahead because the response I received from the city was, that as long as no one wrote a written complaint, the ordinance wouldn’t be enforced.   I was pretty certain a complaint would be written by a concerned citizen.  I also knew that every other city in San Diego County has addressed the issue of having hens on private property so I decided that when the complaint happened, I would take it to City Council.  A written complaint was eventually made, I went before the city council, council enforced the ordinance, and we removed our chickens and coop.  The chickens have moved off our property to a chicken safe house and are being well tended by a fellow friend of fowl.

Some of the issues that seem to be of concern are bacteria, disease, rats, flies, odor, noise and property values. Because the health of my hens was important to me, just as the health of all my pets is important, I educated myself on the proper care of my hens.  I am as concerned as anybody about not endangering my family’s health and I don’t like flies, so, as a responsible pet owner, I cleaned the coop daily, twice if necessary, and made sure the hens had fresh food and water, and clean straw for bedding .  I used tools dedicated only to the chicken coop so as not to spread any bacteria to my food crops, wore a dedicated pair of rubber clogs,  and always wore nitrile gloves in the coop in case I had cuts on my hands which, being an active gardener, is usually the case.  Once a month I spread diatomaceous earth in the straw bedding and around the coop to keep little buggy critters at bay. 

The eggs I collected were always washed as soon as I brought them into the house.  I have shared eggs with most of the neighbors, friends and family who seemed excited to be the receivers of these precious little gifts.  Nothing compares to a really fresh egg, and I have a heightened appreciation for the work that is required to get my Snowflakes to drop their eggs every day.  We’d do well to teach our children where their food really comes from and what is involved to make it happen.  Certainly you can’t grasp that process standing in a grocery store in front of a refrigerator stacked to the top with dozens of eggs. 

I have heard concerns that rats would be attracted to chicken coops, but my cats aren’t catching any more rats now than before I brought the Snowflakes home.  The Snowflakes were never allowed to roam free.  They eat everything and would decimate my garden.  They would chase my cats and be chased by my dog. Possums are natural predators to chickens and will kill them while they are sleeping.  The neighborhood hawk already kills little birds at my feeders and would love a chance to get bigger prey.  Nature in action, but the Snowflakes were safe in their coop.

In regard to noise, the Snowflakes are hens, not roosters.  Sure, they make some noise, but nothing compared a squawking parrot, barking dog or the resident crows that hang out in my big tree.  Why is it okay for a neighbor to own large dogs, or have a dog that barks constantly, but it’s not okay for me to have a few hens that are producing food for my family?  In regard to property values, anyone who had visited the Snowflakes knows that the chicken coop was artfully created, complete with a viewing window that I found in an alley.  The rest of the yard is a messy, bohemian collection of raised beds, potted plants, and garden art, which suits me just fine.  Definitely not a tidy lawn but there’s no  ordinance against that.  I am a Master Gardener and have followed the philosophy of local food for quite a while.  San Diego County is leading the charge in growing local food and has the largest number of farms of any county in the United States.  Just because I don’t live on open farmland, doesn’t mean I’m not interested and shouldn’t be able to grow my own food.  With water being a precious commodity in drought stricken Southern California, I feel accomplished in that I use my water judiciously to grow food instead of watering a lawn for aesthetic purposes.   My goal this year has been to eat something from my garden every day whether it is blueberries, strawberries, apples, melons, herbs, eggplant, squash or eggs, and I’ve been pretty successful, thanks to the Snowflakes. 

It’s time to address the issue of hobby hens for the Coronado resident.   The current ordinance regarding chickens is outdated and needs to be revised to fit today’s social climate.  I would like to see common sense applied to this issue.  Allow up to three hens (they are social animals), NO ROOSTERS, acceptable chicken coop parameters including a minimum requirement of footage from residential dwellings that is realistic for Coronado lot sizes.   

Thank you to the City of Coronado, Mayor Tanaka and City Council for your time in addressing this issue in Coronado.  SAVE THE SNOWFLAKES!!!

Respectfully, Leslie Crawford aka ‘The Chicken Lady of Coronado’

 

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Dad Goes to Bat for the Snowflakes

October 20, 2011

My dad wrote a letter to the editor for our local newspaper in response to me having to get rid of the Snowflakes because one of Chicken Little’s complaints was “Bacteria.”  Letter as follows: Dear Editor:                                        I was present at the City Council meeting held on 20 September 2011 when the subject of keeping “Hobby [...]

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Fleeting Moments of Fame

September 14, 2011

My chicken speech has been working its way around town, and has gone viral on the internet, too. Apparently, I’ve struck a nerve! I was at the Sunday concert in the park and was approached by a couple of people who watched the city council meeting on TV and saw my speech.  They loved it. I discovered that [...]

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Going To The Mat For The Snowflakes

September 6, 2011

Today I took the chicken issue to City Hall.  Somebody wrote a complaint against the chickens so it was time to get the issue in front of Coronado City Council.  I wrote a totally dorky chicken speech and I think I nailed it today up at the podium during Oral Communications.  What’s the point of [...]

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CCCI

June 12, 2011

A milestone day for the Snowflakes so I thought I’d class it up with some Roman Numerals. That’s how many eggs they have laid as of today. Nice work, girls!

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Maison de Poulet

May 25, 2011

It just keeps getting better and better for the Snowflakes, those lucky girls. They’ve been hiding behind a wall of bamboo, but we rocked their world on Sunday by doing a little remodeling on their humble abode. The girls got stashed in their laying enclosure for an hour while we moved things around. They were [...]

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Eggstravaganza

April 23, 2011

Easter will be here tomorrow, but I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that we’re not in March! The Snowflakes are doing their part and have been laying eggs every day. In fact, the egg count crossed over 200 last week. Kudos to the Snowflakes! We’ll be dying our eggs tomorrow. I’m [...]

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Don’t Mess with Les

April 8, 2011

Good things are happening in the garden! Very exciting to know this will be a bowl of breakfast goodness! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! The bad news is I lost a couple of strawberries. The good news is that the Snowflakes love slugs. Mr. Slug, you have met your match. Hey girrrrlllllls, it’s snack time!!!

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A change in perspective….

March 10, 2011

Now that I’m a chicken farmer, there has been a shift in my garden pests perspective. Snails and slugs used to lurk in my garden behind pots and under leaves, waiting for me to find them and think, “Shoot, why can’t I get rid of these?” Grubs – fat, white and wiggly – that I [...]

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