Backyard Hens: Facts & Myths

 

• Fact: Food Safety/Health By raising your own backyard hens, you are assured that they are being raised in a humane and healthy manner. Studies show that eggs from backyard hens are far healthier than store bought eggs.
• Fact: Sustainable Hens eat garden/grass   trimmings and kitchen scraps keeping them out of the landfill or sewer system and lay eggs providing a local source of nutritious food.
• Fact:  Educational Backyard hens are a great learning opportunity for children, showing them how food is raised and teaching responsibility.
• Myth: Smelly One medium sized dog produces the same amount of waste per day as 6 hens.  Hen manure can be composted, dog waste ends up in the landfill or lawns. Large, commercial operations can be smelly as they are not well ventilated and large amounts of waste are concentrated. Backyard coops of 6-10 hens do not create this concentration.
• Myth: Noise NO ROOSTERS ALLOWED! A hen at her loudest is 70 decibels, a barking dog or lawnmower is 90 decibels, a car horn is 100 decibels.
• Myth: Decreased property value There is no evidence that backyard hen keeping affects property values. According to a recent study, over 65% of major U.S. cities now allow chickens. Would major cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Madison, Denver and smaller cities like Missoula, MT, Roswell, GA, and Portland, OR have all passed ordinances if it adversely affected values?

City Hens Town Hall Meeting November 9!

City Hens Town Hall Meeting

LOCATION CHANGE!

Tuesday, November 9  

7 pm

Roeland Park City Hall
4600 W. 51st Street
Roeland Park, KS 66205

Now is the time to step up and support City Hens in Roeland Park! Please join us for discussion of the new ordinance. This is an opportunity to share information, dispell myths and talk the truth about urban hen keeping!

To request a button, fliers to distribute or other information:  chirpks@gmail.com

Thank YOU for your support!

Show your Support!

We have buttons!  We have informational flyers that you can email to your friends and don't forget the Town Hall Meeting on November 9!

We will be on the radio with the King Of Green this week talking City Hens in Roeland Park. Details to follow!

Comment on this blog or email us at chirpks@gmail.com if you want a cool button, have questions or need resources!

We are in the home stretch and need all the support we can gather!

Thank you to the volunteers and supporters who have helped make buttons, pass out flyers, do research and talk this up!  We appreciate all you do!

Chicken Evolution

Have you wondered how to reach your city officials? We are posting the email addresses for handy reference.

Action is at hand...come to the meeting on Thursday, October 21 to get your collateral information to support the efforts to get this ordinance done!

Many other communities have offered support and have asked for help. 

Part of what our purpose is to provide informationa and resources for those wanting to keep hens.
Here is another link into the "evolutionary" community:    

 A Chicken Evolution

Mad City Chickens (teaser #1)

Time to Act!

Hello everyone,

   At the suggestion of the City Manager, the City Council has decided to hold a Town Hall meeting to get input from the citizens on the chicken ordinance.  In preparation for the Town Hall meeting, we are going to meet at the Cedar Roe Library on Thursday, October 14 and Thursday, October 21.  Both meetings will start at 6:00.

 

 The Johnson County Extension Council Agricultural Agent, Rick Miller,  will speak to us at this Thursday's meeting, October 14th, Cedar Roe Library, 6:00.  Please join us if you can.  I'm sure he will have really great information for us.   We will also be cutting out the paper for making buttons for our group as well as putting together a flyer to hand out. 

  

  If you have friends or neighbors that are interested in backyard hens and may have questions, please invite them to this meeting.  Rick Miller is a wonderful source of information and is happy to answer questions.

  

We will be creating an agenda for the October 21 meeting, so if you have any questions, suggestions or just wish to discuss a certain part of the proposed code, please let us know so that we can get it on the agenda.

 

 

 Please join us for these two meetings to prepare for the November 9th, Town Hall meeting.  Please invite any neighbors to join us.  Now is the time to gather our supporters and answer any questions that anyone may have. 

  

Roeland Park has a goal to be the "greenest city in Johnson County".  Let's help our city take a step towards that goal by adopting a great backyard hen ordinance.

What is all the CHIRPin'about?

Welcome to City Hens In Roeland Park.  This site is being created to provide an information outlet to our community.  We are part of a growing number of citizens nationwide who are reclaiming their power to choose the source of their food and to live a sustainable lifestyle.

Keeping hens and growing your own food is no longer limited to rural settings.  Exactly the opposite is true!  Urban and suburban farming is growing by leaps and bounds as we are finding that the only truly safe food source, is one we can trace to the producer. 

This could turn into a soapbox...and will from time to time.  For now, this is the  way we will distribute the lastest in our challenge to get a fair ordinance passed in our community of Roeland Park, KS. Expect meeting notices, commentary and discussion as we continue this process.

As this site grows, there will be links and resources provided to the ever expanding online community of back yard farmers and henkeepers.  So we invite you to subscribe to recieve the notice via email when we post new information.  Or you can join our group on Facebook.

Thanks!