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)
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Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Jersey Shore Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania Baby chicks are really
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challenging to withstand,
however it's finest to plan for their
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by gathering not just the
correct products, yet
likewise the proper
knowledge to take care of
them. Raising baby chicks is relatively
straightforward, you simply should supply them with the following: A tidy and warm and comfortable
environment Plenty of food and also water Interest as well as
love Habitat Your habitat can be a straightforward box, aquarium,
feline carrier, or guinea
pig cage. Line it with old towels as well as
blankets (without any loosened
strings!) to start, as well as after a
couple of weeks make use of straw over paper.
Note: Avoid making use of just
paper or various other slipper
surface areas-- or your chicks legs can expand
malformed. You additionally require
something to serve up food as well as
water in, such as a chicken feeder and also water
meal from the feed shop, or a pickle jar
lid for food and also an animal bird water dispenser from an animal shop. Likewise, as the chicks grow older you can introduce a perch
into the environment to obtain them
trained on perching. Warmth To
keep your chicks warm you have to
supply them with a warmth source.
This can be as basic as a 100 watt
light bulb in a reflective clamp style light from a
hardware store, or an infrared reptile heat
light bulb likewise function effectively (my
recommendation). Chicks need this
warmth 24/7 up until their downy fluff is
replaced with feathers (which could take up to 2 months). The freshly
hatched need a temperature
in between 90 and 100 levels,
as well as each week this could
be lowered by
approximately 5 degrees or
so. The warmth resource should be on simply one side of the cage
to allow chicks a variety of
temperatures. The chicks are your ideal
thermometer- if they are hiding in the
contrary edge of your heat
light, you have to
minimize the temperature level. If
they are surrounding each various other under the
warmth (not merely curling up),
you should include some heat.
House cleaning
Cleanliness is essential and it maintains your chicks healthy and
balanced. Make certain to transform
the bedding
often as well as
consistently give tidy
food as well as water Food as well as water.
Chicks grow very quickly
which requires lots of clean
food as well as water. Offer
enough whatsoever times and inspect
commonly to avoid dehydrated as well as
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also non-medicated selections. Feed chick food for the
very first two months, then
change to a raiser food (~ 17 %
healthy protein) for one more 2 months,
then to a somewhat
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filth baths, while others won't occupy that task until they are
older. If you have the space in your chick
unit, present a tray of sand or
filth for them to bathe in.
Focus as well as love There are a couple of benefits to spending time with your chicks. First of all, they will probably bond with you as well as
not escape as adults. Second, if you
examine your chicks daily and
view their actions, you can
capture health problem or various
other issues previously. Keep an
eye out for wheezing, limping, or
various other harmful
indicators. Make certain to
also look at
their poop, as looseness of the bowels can lead
to matted plumes and also stopped up cloaca.
Lastly, it is necessary to look out
for social concerns, such as the
tiniest chick getting picked
on. Vacant nest syndrome So your
chicks are currently totally feathered
as well as its time for them to leave the
security of your home
as well as move outside into a cage. Take a look at our
part on chicken cages to get more information
concerning cages as well as
appropriate coop habitats.