We would love to have a few backyard hens. At first, it started with Sean falling in love with some petting zoo chickens back in 2009. Back then they were just some pets we wanted. After finding out that the city wouldn't allow us to have them, we just pushed the idea aside.
Fast forward to 2012. We got Netflix and I began watching food documentaries like Food, Inc. If you have not seen Food, Inc, you should. I knew our diet was not ideal, far from it. But I didn't really realize how bad the food industry really is. Something needs to change and it needs to start with our diet. And that's what we're slowly working on. I do mean slowly too. There's a lot we want to change and we'll never stick with it if we change it all at once. We're changing a few things at a time so the things we change become habit. A couple things that I changed before that are now habit is my water intake, no more white bread and breakfast. I'm actually cooking breakfast now. It's an odd morning now when I'm not scrambling eggs and grabbing a banana and some yogurt.
So that was before Food, Inc. Eek! Those poor animals! Poor us because that's what we're eating! I vowed to change that. First thing, eggs. Now that we eating so much more of them, what are we going to do? Us wanting chickens came back but of course the laws are still the same. However, I found some like minded people and we're petitioning the city....more on that in a minute. In the mean time, I found a local chicken owner and we now get our eggs straight from the source. They're not only healthier but tastier too! There's still one more problem: meat. I'll be honest. I love meat, especially pig. I can not be a vegetarian. The next best thing would be get meat straight from the source too. Whoa, have you seen how expensive that can be!? We're on a tight budget so this creates a problem but I proposed a solution to hubby. He wasn't too happy at first but he hasn't seen Food, Inc yet! My solution was if we cut back on the meat we do eat, we can afford the fresh meat. That's where the whole creating a habit comes in. We need to make eating meatless meals a habit. We're starting with 1 meatless day a week and will work up from there.
Now back to chickens. Before I found out about the petition, we signed up for the Rent-a-Chick program. We got to raise 5 adorable little chicks for a couple of weeks. I dreaded the day we had to return them to the farm. I so badly want hens of our own. Why? We have an affordable fresh egg source. Why worry about having them ourselves? Eggs are just a small part of the benefits of having a few hens. As I mentioned, they make fun pets. But there are more reasons. They eat pests like mosquitoes, ticks, and termites; less pesticides! They also eat kitchen scrapes; less city waste! Talking about waste, their waste would make wonderful fertilizer for our garden! I can't think of a negative. Noise..well, I'm not too worried about that because we just want hens, not roosters! Currently, the only residential district that is allowed to have chickens has a minimum of 3 acres. 3 acres is a lot more land than you need for just a few chickens!
Here's my little cutie holding his first chicken.
He even ended up being a chicken farmer that Halloween!
Fast forward to 2012. We got Netflix and I began watching food documentaries like Food, Inc. If you have not seen Food, Inc, you should. I knew our diet was not ideal, far from it. But I didn't really realize how bad the food industry really is. Something needs to change and it needs to start with our diet. And that's what we're slowly working on. I do mean slowly too. There's a lot we want to change and we'll never stick with it if we change it all at once. We're changing a few things at a time so the things we change become habit. A couple things that I changed before that are now habit is my water intake, no more white bread and breakfast. I'm actually cooking breakfast now. It's an odd morning now when I'm not scrambling eggs and grabbing a banana and some yogurt.
So that was before Food, Inc. Eek! Those poor animals! Poor us because that's what we're eating! I vowed to change that. First thing, eggs. Now that we eating so much more of them, what are we going to do? Us wanting chickens came back but of course the laws are still the same. However, I found some like minded people and we're petitioning the city....more on that in a minute. In the mean time, I found a local chicken owner and we now get our eggs straight from the source. They're not only healthier but tastier too! There's still one more problem: meat. I'll be honest. I love meat, especially pig. I can not be a vegetarian. The next best thing would be get meat straight from the source too. Whoa, have you seen how expensive that can be!? We're on a tight budget so this creates a problem but I proposed a solution to hubby. He wasn't too happy at first but he hasn't seen Food, Inc yet! My solution was if we cut back on the meat we do eat, we can afford the fresh meat. That's where the whole creating a habit comes in. We need to make eating meatless meals a habit. We're starting with 1 meatless day a week and will work up from there.
Now back to chickens. Before I found out about the petition, we signed up for the Rent-a-Chick program. We got to raise 5 adorable little chicks for a couple of weeks. I dreaded the day we had to return them to the farm. I so badly want hens of our own. Why? We have an affordable fresh egg source. Why worry about having them ourselves? Eggs are just a small part of the benefits of having a few hens. As I mentioned, they make fun pets. But there are more reasons. They eat pests like mosquitoes, ticks, and termites; less pesticides! They also eat kitchen scrapes; less city waste! Talking about waste, their waste would make wonderful fertilizer for our garden! I can't think of a negative. Noise..well, I'm not too worried about that because we just want hens, not roosters! Currently, the only residential district that is allowed to have chickens has a minimum of 3 acres. 3 acres is a lot more land than you need for just a few chickens!
If you agree, would you mind signing and sharing our petition?
And last but not least, the beautiful little girls we raised:
Stay up to date by "liking" my Facebook page.
© Mama Dani's Musings
Great post! Loved the pictures and all the work you are doing to get hens legalized. Besides signing the petition, those who want to help might want to "like" our Facebook Page to stay updated at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chesapeake-Virginia-Backyard-Chickens/334236733254583
ReplyDeleteCheck out Windhaven Farm for beef/pork. They are in Windsor, VA but if you get on their e-mail list, once a month they take orders and do a drop-off at the Greenbrier mall. We just got 1/4 cow from them and it is fantastic...
ReplyDeleteWe would love chickens too, but we have a similar problem. Our city allows them, but our HOA prohibits them, and they are not very progressive in their thinking, so doubt that we could ever convince most of the neighborhood to change their mind. That's awesome you are trying to make a change in your town.
ReplyDeleteSigned the petition! A friend of the family raises chickens and we get fresh eggs from him. :) I want to get some of my own, a lot of people have them around where I live, but I'm worried because they're not technically legal here...
ReplyDelete