Backers of equal protection under the law for all hens got eggsactly what they came for from the City Plan Commission. Well, they got within a feather of it anyway.
The panel acted Wednesday night on an advisory report to the Board of Aldermen on a proposal to make it legal for city residents to raise up to a half-dozen hens under certain controlled circumstances. Roosters were definitely not invited.
After sitting on the nest and clucking for a few more minutes, the commission passed the measure unanimously, asked for a Health Department report, and sent the matter on to the Board of Aldermen, which is expected to take it up next month.
City Planner Joy Ford explained the conditions under which the hens could be kept under the proposal: no more than six, no less than 10 feet from the property line and 25 feet from the street line, no hens in the house, and the rest.
Then City Engineer Richard Miller, who has raised chickens, presented a number of “what if“s for proponents Fair Haven Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale and Westville resident Rebecca Weiner (pictured). Weiner has legal hens in the backyard of her well-kept egg-yolk-colored house on Willard Street.
What if the hens stop laying?
What do you do about the guano (droppings)?
Meanwhile, City Plan Chairman Ed Mattison said he worried about humane treatment of the birds.
“There is a blog with 39,000 entries, mostly talking about mistreatment,” he said. “We do not want to contribute to the mistreatment of animals.”
City Plan Deputy Director Thomas Talbot said he, too, has raised chickens. He said he worries more about over-regulation than too little. Five square feet of space is plenty for a hen, he said; those who raise them should not have to walk on eggshells about treatment of their flocks.
Sturgis-Pascale said people don’t need roosters to lay eggs; one of the hens can become the chief chicken and keep the others from fowl deeds. She and Weiner both said you can’t tell who in a neighborhood is keeping chickens by any foul smell, as attested by Christopher Smith, who is a tenant at a house at which chickens are raised.
Weiner said hens are as hearty as any animal that lives where it gets cold. Breeds such as Rhode Island Reds are used to the cold. On the coldest day, a 40-watt bulb will keep the flock as cozy as any hen party.
As to what to do with a hen that’s stopped laying, she said there could be places where “the birds can go to live out their lives.” Miller and Talbot suggested the soup pot as an alternative. The board agreed that some things are better left to health regulations.
After the vote, Weiner said she was happy the idea took flight, especially since her eggs cost about 12 cents a dozen, while organic, free-range eggs have been known to cost about $6 a dozen.