Chicken Review News Animal Shelters are crying Fowl over Urban Chickens!
Animal Shelters are crying Fowl!
According to recent news articles Animal Shelters are crying Fowl over Urban Chickens!
Backyard or Urban Chickens abandonment is on the rise according to recently released news articles.
Chickens being dropped off at animal shelters is on the rise!
The Chicken craze or fad or whatever you choose to call it seems to be gaining ground in the United States! Every day I get new updates on cities, towns, etc calling meetings to deal with raising chickens and passing ordinances to deal with it. People are just fascinated with Chickens!
Some cities and towns already have ordinances dealing with the handling of or raising Urban Chickens and others are having to deal with it as they get complaints or request. Yes, there are those who complain and I understand no one wanting a Rooster crowing in the next yard at 6:00am after you have worked most of the night and needing sleep!
Most ordinances restrict how close you can live to a neighbor and own a rooster..Fact of the matter is, you may own a chicken who will assume the place of a rooster if none is present and start crowing on it’s own..This has happened from time to time but not a normal thing…..Time to get out the stew pot!
There are some news articles out about new Urban Chicken owners purchasing chickens for the first time and building small coops, purchasing feed then thinking that all I have to do it put my chickens in the fenced in yard and all is finished! Now just sit around feed them and wait on the eggs!
The problem with raising Urban Chickens is that there comes responsibilities as with any other living creature or pet you own. Yes, a chicken will forge around the yard and eat bugs and worms and pebbles and whatever it can catch. They can survive in the wild like this. There are many free range birds out there that forage all summer and pretty much live off the land. They even need shelter in the winter.
The thing with owning Backyard or Urban Chickens is, they don’t have the opportunity to forge free range. They depend solely on you for their survival! Before you go out all gung ho and buying Chickens, consider the consequences of ownership! You own a car, you have to spend money to take care of it. You own a house, you have to spend money to take care of it, you own a dog or cat, you have to spend money to take care of it..Same thing with a Chicken, there is no difference in the responsibility!
Backyard or Urban Chickens need: Food! You have to purchase or grow feed for your chickens. They can not survive in your backyard without it! You would think everyone would know this but apparently not! New owners are becoming tired and dropping their first time chickens off at the animal shelters. You can find out about food for chickens “HERE”
Backyard or Urban Chickens need: Shelter! Yes you have to provide shelter for your chickens. This includes more than a tarp strung over a clothesline! A chicken shelter or Chicken Coop needs to be of certain qualities. It needs to provide housing, bedding, protection, a feeling of safety, comfort, and good ventilation. Sounds like a place that we live in. If you want happy healthy chickens laying you plenty of eggs, this is necessary. Read about good Chicken Coop needs “HERE”
Backyard or Urban Chickens don’t: They don’t lay eggs all of their life! Many hens quit laying eggs after just a couple of years. They sometimes live for 10 years. What are you going to do with them then? This needs to be considered. My grandmother put them in a pot and we ate them! Now days folk just can’t bring themselves to do this. Everything has to be pre-prepared for us! It has to come in a package! Well, if you intend to keep them as a pet and continue to give them room and board that is fine. If not, you probably should not raise them. Everything has an end! You have to realize this when you get it in your mind you want to raise those pretty chickens! Look honey, everyone is doing it, we have to get in on it too! Everything has an end! Chickens quit laying eggs! What then?
Some of these articles portray this abandonment as a great threat to the animal shelters across the country but I just don’t see that.
A much greater problem are the Cats and Dogs being abandoned in our society and the lax laws on spaying and neutering pets to keep them under control. The Chicken abandonment is very small in comparison.
If you want to be a responsible owner of these wonderful Birds, then please, consider the responsibility that comes with it. They make wonderful pets and have a personality and nature of their own. Yes, they provide food to us and for us as it was intended to be!
Keep those chickens healthy! 🙂
Articles on Chicken Abandonment in the News!
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Chicken Photo provided by: Mary Alice Syler
