Thursday, April 19, 2012

For Those Considering Raising Urban Chickens

Posted By on Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 12:00 PM

The subject of keeping chickens within the city limits is nearer and dearer to many hearts than one might think. A growing number of people are quite interested in raising their own chickens, both for the nutritious, cruelty-free eggs and the rich fertilizer said hens and roosters produce.

A new Facebook group called Tucson CLUCKS - The Tucson City Living Urban Chicken Keeping Society - has emerged to serve this population of chicken enthusiasts. From the sounds of things the members are looking to loosen the regulations on keeping other kinds of animals too, which means that herd of pygmy goats you've been considering could be moving in sooner than expected.

Here's an excerpt of the description of the group from the initial Facebook posting:

A group for allies of urban agriculture in Tucson and Pima County, Arizona. Allies include supporters as well as current keepers of food producing animals.

This group was designed to mobilize supporters of urban animal husbandry in preparation for upcoming public hearings held by the Tucson City Council to examine proposed changes to current animal policies and land use codes.

Proposed changes include eliminating current property line setbacks for animal structures (currently set at 50 ft from property line) and reclassification of animal policy based on animal units in relation to square footage of residential lots.

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