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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Environment - "'Chicken underground' emerges in Indiana"

Bob Scott reports in the Indianapolis Star:

Gay-Ellen Stulp and Stephany Miskunas are lobbying the Lafayette City Council to allow them to keep pet chickens at their homes in the historic Highland Park neighborhood.

Stulp said she wants city council members to amend the ordinance that forbids having chickens in the city. The city council's Public Health Welfare and Safety Committee plans to consider the matter. * * *

Many cities allow urban chicken farming, including Indianapolis, St. Louis, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis.

Restrictions are placed on the chicken lovers in most of those cases, though. For example, in most cases, hens are allowed but not roosters, only three or four chickens are permitted at each household, and chickens must be kept from leaving the property.

The urban chicken movement has businesses that sell equipment and offer tips for raising the birds. * * *

Stulp said backyard hobbyists are propagating the heirloom varieties of chicken.

"This is part of the 'back to the earth' movement," said Stulp, an Eli Lilly chemical engineer. "It's a harmless hobby.

"After the ordinance was changed in Madison, Wis., there are now 150 families that have chickens."

I was unaware that I legally could raise chickens here in downtown Indianapolis.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 18, 2009 01:50 PM
Posted to Environment