Caldwell, Idaho – We all knew Fido was man’s best friend but who know the Little Red Hen would run him a close second. Chickens as pets are gaining more approval in city ordinances these days.
Caldwell is the latest, in Treasure Valley, to revise their city ordinances, which took effect at the end of June. The new ordinance allows people living on less than an acre to own some farm animals that have been reclassified as pets, including goats, miniature horses, peacocks, and pot-bellied pigs.
Lonalee Hoogland is the owner of 5 chickens and for a while she was keeping them illegally until the new ordinance passed. The chickens are called “urban chickens” or “backyard chickens,” according to KTVB Local News Site.
“I was in noncompliance with the ordinance, and I had received letters from the city saying that I needed to get rid of my chickens, and basically said, no, I want to work on getting this approved,” Hoogland told KTVB Local News Site.
Hoogland was a big advocate for chickens as pets and spoke at city meetings on the subject. Now anyone living in Caldwell can keep up to ten chickens, even on less than an acre.
Gretchen Anderson, who lives in Eagle, has written a book about chickens as pets called “The Backyard Chicken Fight.”
Anderson says the backyard chickens are getting more and more popular for two big reasons, one being food security, wanting to know their food is safe and the second being people want to do what they want in their backyards.
Main concerns people usually have about chickens are noise, odor, predators and disease. Anderson says that with proper care those things can all be avoided.
All info was taken from the ktvb.com website. To read more visit this website:
http://www.ktvb.com/news/Urban-Chickens-gaining-more-approval-in-Idaho-cities-125466513.html
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