Victory at Committee!

Sorry! We’ve been awful at updating our website/blog.

As you probably know by now, after three repeated attempts, we passed out of the City of Sacramento’s Law & Leg Committee and are on our way to the full Sacramento City Council for review and vote.

Say what? Yes, in the next few months, with your support, the Sacramento City Council will vote to legalizing egg-laying hens. Since we are in the final stretch, please consider doing everything you can to secure the support of your city council person and that of your neighbors. We’re almost there…

And please consider sending a special thanks to Councilmembers Cohn, Fong, Schenirer and Sheedy for voting to move the issue of backyard egg-laying hens forward at the Law & Leg hearing last month. You can find their info here.

And in case you missed it, we had a great write-up in Sacramento Magazine.

Stay tuned for next steps…

Sac City Council: Take 2

Ok. We’re more than a little irked. Turns out the Sacramento City Council’s Law & Leg Committee just scheduled a meeting for Nov. 16th without informing us until yesterday. So we need your help once again. Please attend the hearing on Nov 16th @ 3pm @ Sac City Hall wearing your CLUCK shirt or stickers (or email us at info(at)eatsacramento.org to order one).  The message is still clear: chickens are part of our healthy food system in Sacramento City and the Region.

The city authored another report we think missed the mark on a few points:

(1) There will be no net difference in the cost of legalizing chickens. City staff suggest it costs the same amount now and in the future, whether chickens are legal or not. So, in fact, there is no additional cost to the City. Seems odd then that they might propose a fee.

(2) We should allow more than 3 chickens. While we are open to discussions, 3 is a very small number of chickens for the city to limit. Especially as some chickens age, you want to be able to maintain a flock of diverse ages and egg-laying capacity. In the City, by comparison, you can have 7 cats. It seems silly not to allow more chickens. In neighboring Roseville, for example, you can have up to 10 chickens.

(3) Clarify setbacks. Lots in Sacramento are of all shapes and sizes. We need to make sure that any setbacks are appropriate and from “habitations,” rather than from “residences” or “property lines”.

See you all on the 16th!

Date Change: Oct. 5th is New Hearing

Ugh. We’re tired of waiting, but the City moves (very) slow. It turns out they needed more time to work on their report in the impacts of legalizing urban chickens. Crazy seeing as how we put together a comprehensive report and legal review of relevant  city code a year ago on the topic and presented it to them. And crazy since it is unlikely that legalizing them  will not have much of any fiscal or noticeable impact.

But let’s not get ourselves down…they are actually moving forward. The City Council’s Law and Leg Committee (Councilmembers Hammond, Sheedy, Cohn and Waters) will take up the issue of legalizing backyard chickens on Oct. 5th in the Council Chambers at 3pm.

Also, we have lots of new t-shirts in green, red, and grey, in cuts for men and women. Contact us at info(at)eatsacramento(dot)org to order one for $15 today!

Join us for a hearing on Sept. 21st!

Quiet, please. So we’ve all been waiting for this moment for over a year now….finally the Sacramento City Council is taking up the issue of legalizing backyard chickens. The City’s Law and Leg Committee (Council Members Cohn, Hammond, Sheedy and Waters) will be discussing the issue, and with a little bit of education from the public, they will pass the issue on to the full City Council for a vote.

We Need Your Help!

Show up on Sept. 21st and voice your support for the issue. If you can’t make it, and even if you can, please call your City Councilmember in advance and let them know you support legalizing backyard chickens (Just dial 3-1-1 in the City).

Details

Sacramento City Council

Law & Legislation Committee

Sept. 21^st, 3pm

915 I Street (New City Hall), 1^st Floor – Council Chambers

Contact info(at)eatsacramento.org with any questions.

Egg Recall Lends Support To Backyard Chicken Movement

We’re sure a few of you have been wondering when we were going to address the issues raised by the latest egg recall (emphasis on “latest”). Rather than make the case ourselves, we think Bonnie Azab Powell did a good job in her recent article. Here’s a little snippet:

The sad fact is that industrial farming is the norm in both Europe and America, and that whenever you have thousands of animals crowded together inside — whether barn egg layers in England or chickens at big organic operations in Northern California — you’re going to increase the risk of pathogens like salmonella.

Things are gearing up to legalize backyard chickens in Sacramento. Let’s give people an option for something rather than unhealthy factory conditions, let’s give them the opportunity for healthy, green and nutritious eggs. We may have hearings on the issue starting in September before the Sacramento City Council…so stay tuned!

See Powell’s full article in Reuters or other postings at The Ethicurean.

from fellow chicken enthusiasts in Berkeley

Yes, we’ve been bad at posting lately. And here we are cheating again. Here’s a good story from our friends at Civil Eats about backyard chickens in Berkeley. Read the full story here.

Our North Berkeley neighborhood is a haven for chicken fanciers. I’ve counted at least six coops within a three-block radius of our house! And we’re fortunate enough to live right next to one of them. Our lovely back neighbors, Fran and Chip, have three young hens in their backyard. In addition to entertaining Will, who now says “buck, buck” and heads for the back door whenever we say “chicken”, we also receive delicious eggs with brilliant orange yolks from the girls next door.After seeing how much Will enjoys watching the girls scratch, peck and flap their wings, I started thinking about maybe getting some chickens of our own. But how to begin? Fran was kind enough to answer some questions about her experience raising the birds. I’ve included our little “poultry talk” below in case you’re thinking about starting your own little backyard flock.

Where’s The Beef?: Mayor’s New Green Initiative Leaves Out Food

Yesterday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced an effort to make the Sacramento Region “The Emerald Valley,” the center of the state and country’s green and social justice movements.

The exciting new “Green Initiative”  will work to tackle problems around water, energy, urban design and waste & recycling.

Unfortunately, the Mayor forget to include food. The Food Movement has been growing in the Region, uniting efforts to support our local economy and keep our bodies and communities healthy.  We’re sure it’s an oversight and hope the Mayor will work to make food a priority throughout the other environmental efforts.

Read more about the effort in today’s Sac Bee.

Special Chickens needing Special Homes

Animal Place recently accepted 45 hens from a cage-free egg laying operation. The hens are commercial brown layers and are approximately 2 years old. They have been de-beaked, so will require some specialized feeding care.

The hens are friendly, all things considered, and are looking for new homes.

There are 23 hens available for adoption. Adopters will need to fill out an adoption application and there is a suggested $5 donation per chicken to help offset the extra care and feed they require at the sanctuary.

If you are interested in adopting some of these hens or know someone who is, please contact Marji Beach at marji@animalplace.org. Hens will only be adopted into companion homes.

Please remember, if you know anyone looking for chickens to adopt, please consider your local shelter or a sanctuary like Animal Place before buying. Hatcheries are sad places where adult birds are kept in puppy mill style housing and where day-old, sensitive birds are sent through the postal service. Rooster chicks are used as packing material, so even ordering “hens” may result in a few roosters (who are generally tossed out or euthanized at shelters). Contact us first to see if we can find needy chickens for placement before buying!

Animal Place
www.animalplace.org

Urban Farm Magazine

Hobby Farms has a new magazine out “Urban Farm”.  The spring 2010 issue is on news stands now.  I was shopping at Raley’s last weekend, checking out the magazine selection, and was very surprised to see Urban Farm at Raley’s. I thought I would have to order it.  Looks like Urban Farming is becoming more and more mainstream.  This is a fun magazine to read, lot’s of interesting articles on gardening, composting and of course chicken keeping!  It is so encouraging that many people are taking the issue of food security seriously and stepping up to the plate to solve the problem one ubran farm at at time!

Buy Now »

It doesn’t take a farm to have the heart of a

Preparing for Chickens!

We are confident and hopeful that the City of Sacramento will change the current law banning chickens in the city.  So confident that during our winter holiday break, instead of hanging out by our fire and reading books, we were pulling apart pallets and pounding nails in the cold, rainy week between Christmas and New Year to construct our chicken coop. 

 

Prior to actual construction, countless hours were spent going over the coop section of “My Backyard Chicken”  a website that has a wealth of information for do it yourself coop builders.  We didn’t actually purchase plans, instead we took inspiration from the play house design.

 

At first building a coop during a wet, rainy week doesn’t seem like the best idea.  However, I think building in adverse conditions really made us think about the chicken coop design.  We have had many weeks of rain, weather I don’t want any animals running around in for a long period of time.  We made sure that the coop and run are completely covered with a roof.  There are a lot of designs out there where only half of the run is covered.  In good weather that is great, but I don’t want to be dealing with tarps and rigging make shift shelters up next year.  Our coop and run are completely covered with an overhang.  We plan on three chickens, so I think if they are confined to the coop in bad weather they will still have plenty of room to move around.

 

Most designs have nesting boxes that are access able from the outside.  We didn’t include an outdoor access because it seemed like extra work and I will be going into the coop at least twice a day anyway.   Our coop is over 6 feet tall so most people can walk in easily.

 

We are committed to being good neighbors, so our coop is not close to anyone elses house just a back fence.     It is unlikely the hens will even be noticed by our neighbors.  One extra we included is a recycled plant hanger to hang a large fly trap off of.  Some people have concerns that chickens will attract pests.  To avoid this the coop will be cleaned often, food will not be left out for rodents to access and our fly traps will prevent the area from having a fly infestation during the summer months.  I encourage all chicken/dog/cat owners to include some type of fly control program in animal enclosures, ideally my neighbors won’t even know that I have chickens!

 

With that being said there are some changes I would make to any future designs.  I like the idea of building storage into the coop.  It would be very nice to have a place to store straw, chicken feed, extra water bottles, etc.  incorporated into the coop design.  A well thought out design with storage included is an important component to good chicken keeping!