Denver City Council Hearing June 13 — your input needed / Protecting Backyard Chickens, Ducks, and Goats
The main issue which both sides on the debate over the proposed Denver Food Producing Animals ordinance underestimate is the welfare issue. Simply put, how do we protect backyard chickens, ducks, and goats?
If you live in Denver, please come to the City Council meeting this coming Monday (June 13) to speak out for more protection for backyard livestock. The City Council meeting will be held at 5:30 p. m. on June 13, fourth floor of the City and County Building. Or write to your City Council representative, but do it NOW (the vote is less than a week away). You can find your City Council representative by going to , scrolling down to the “Neighborhood maps” on the bottom right, and entering your address. The resulting report will tell you what district you are in (and a bunch of other things also).
Why should we care about backyard chickens, ducks, and goats? It’s true that conditions for livestock will usually (but not always!) be better in backyards than on factory farms. But such animals still need protection, and the inevitable cruelties that will result will be just as real, and much more visible. Since it will happen right in people’s backyards, we will be teaching our neighbors and children that cruelty to animals is acceptable.
Specifically, I would urge the following steps to modify the current proposal:
1. Allow keeping of chickens and ducks as pets only (as is done in other cities such as Chicago and Portland, Maine).
2. Mandate minimum standards for coop space for chickens and ducks of at least 4 square feet per animal. The current draft has NO minimum space requirement for coops at all, and one prominent Denver advocate of backyard chickens (essentially a backyard factory farm)!
3. There is no reasonable way that goats can be humanely kept in the city; urge that goats be eliminated from the ordinance.
Many inexperienced backyard livestock owners get into this with the deluded notion that they are going to get better animal produce at a reasonable price. This just isn’t going to be possible once you add the cost of an adequate coop or shelter, vet bills, feed, and so forth. They will face a dilemma when any one of these things happens:
(a) The animal gets sick. If the owner takes it to the vet (as one would do with a pet), that will greatly increase the cost for those eggs! Many owners will opt for seeing whether the animal will recover on their own, and the animal will suffer terribly or die.
(b) The owner realizes that a decent chicken coop costs a lot of money, so they try to build one “on the cheap,” don’t do a good job, and leave the animals helpless against predators. Or they build one so small (like the 1 square foot per bird advocated by Sundari Kraft!) that the conditions in the coop could be little better than a factory farm.
(c) They get a rooster from the hatchery instead of a hen (roosters would be illegal under the ordinance). Or if they get dwarf goats for milk, the mother gives birth to male goats.
Dwarf goats will suffer even more under the ordinance. One person I talked to at an eastern farm sanctuary said that she would suggest 1/4 of an acre as an adequate space for a pair of dwarf goats. Even 1/16 of an acre would be 2700 square feet. The current ordinance allows a pair of goats to be kept on 260 square feet. I just don’t think that a pair of goats will be happy with 260 square feet. And a single goat in 130 square feet will be in goat hell (goats are very social animals). It may be better than a factory farm, but not by that much.
Moreover, keeping goats for milk implies baby goats — the mother goat will not give milk unless she gets pregnant. The ordinance guarantees an automatic goat overpopulation problem. Our clueless director of Denver Animal Care and Control, Doug Kelley, stated publicly that animal sanctuaries will be happy to take on surplus animals. This shows the mentality of the City and their complete ignorance of animal issues. It is precisely the animal sanctuaries (like ) who are most concerned about the proliferation of livestock in urban areas.
So please, if you care about animals, do one of two things. Write to your City Council person NOW (the vote is less than a week away); see sample letter below. Or better yet, come to the City Council meeting on Monday, June 13, at 5:30 p. m. It will be in the City and County Building, fourth floor. Speak out to ensure that this ordinance protects the animals.
– – – – – – –
Dear City Council Representative,
I urge rejection of the proposed “Food Producing Animals” ordinance unless it is modified to protect the animals. Please change the proposal so that chickens and ducks are only allowed as pets and so that there is a minimum space of 4 square feet per chicken or duck in their coop, in addition to the pen space.
I do not believe that dwarf goats will be happy in the city at all. A single goat confined to 130 square feet of space will not be a happy goat. They need a lot more space and a companion goat. Goats cannot give milk unless they become pregnant, so if a lot of people start keeping goats, Denver could easily have a goat overpopulation problem.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Animal Lover
(slightly modified June 11)
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in North Lawrence New York,
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Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different
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Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in North Lawrence New York
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Typically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds
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Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries
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in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce
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was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in North Lawrence,
New York Baby chicks are quite
adorable as well as
challenging to resist,
but it's ideal to plan for their
arrival before you get them. Prepare first
by gathering not just the
appropriate materials, yet
additionally the appropriate
expertise to care for
them. Raising baby chicks is relatively
basic, you simply need
to give them with the following: A
clean and also warm
environment A lot of food and also water Interest and also
love Environment Your habitat could be a basic box, aquarium,
feline provider, or guinea
pig cage. Line it with old towels and
coverings (with no loosened
strings!) to begin, and also after a few weeks utilize straw over newspaper.
Note: Avoid using only
paper or other slipper
surface areas-- or your chicks legs could expand
malformed. You likewise require
something to serve up food and also
water in, such as a chicken feeder as well as water
dish from the feed store, or a pickle container
cover for food as well as an animal bird water dispenser from a pet shop. Additionally, as the chicks age you could present a perch
right into the habitat to get them
trained on setting down. Warmth To
keep your chicks warm you need to
provide them with a heat source.
This can be as simple as a 100 watt
light bulb in a reflective clamp style lamp from an equipment shop, or an infrared reptile warmth
light bulb also function very
well (my
suggestion). Chicks require this
warmth 24/7 until their downy fluff is
changed with plumes (which can occupy to two months). The recently
hatched require a temperature level
in between 90 and also 100 degrees,
and weekly this can
be lowered by
about 5 levels approximately. The heat resource need to get on merely one side of the cage
to permit chicks an array of
temperatures. The chicks are your finest
thermometer- if they are hiding in the
opposite edge of your heat
lamp, you need to
minimize the temperature level. If
they are smothering each other under the
heat (not simply curling up),
you should put some heat.
Home cleaning
Tidiness is key and also it keeps your chicks healthy. Make sure to alter
the bed linens
usually as well as
constantly supply tidy
food and water Food and water.
Chicks grow really quick
which needs plenty of clean
food and water. Offer
enough in any way times and inspect
often to prevent parched and also
starving chicks. Chick food is different compared
to grown-up chicken food, and it is available in both medicated and non-medicated varieties. Feed chick food for the
first two months, after that
change to a grower food (~ 17 %
healthy protein) for another 2 months,
and after that to a slightly
lower protein feed or a layer feed
(if you have levels). Dirt Some chicks prefer to get a running start on taking
dust bathrooms, while others won't use up that activity up until they are
older. If you have the area in your chick
room, present a tray of sand or
filth for them to wash in.
Interest as well as love There are a couple of advantages to spending quality time with your chicks. Firstly, they will certainly most
likely bond with you and also
not flee as grownups. Second, if you
analyze your chicks daily and also
see their actions, you can
catch health problem or various
other problems previously. Watch out for wheezing, hopping, or
various other harmful
signs. Be sure to
additionally check out
their poop, as looseness of the bowels could bring about matted feathers and obstructed cloaca.
Last but not least, it is necessary to look out
for social problems, such as the
smallest chick getting teased. Vacant nest syndrome So your
chicks are currently completely feathery
as well as its time for them to leave the
security of your residence
as well as move outside into a cage. Look into our
section on chicken coops to find out
more
concerning coops as well as
correct cage environments.