Make Owning Chickens Legal in Marion IN!

Marion Indiana’s City Council has consistently denied the citizens of Marion the right to own backyard poultry including chickens and quail. Mike Cline of the city council of Marion Indiana lists that chickens and quail are not allowed for several reasons;
1. “ Concerns from neighbors who might not want livestock, including poultry, grown and kept in their neighborhoods.”
• citizens of Marion can own any other household pet without concern for their neighbors feelings, it doesn’t matter if an individual detests their neighbors dog, the neighbor is allowed to keep their dog.
2. “Noise.”
• a roosters crow is approximately half the noise level of a dog bark and a third the noise level of a lawn mower.
3. “Possible pollution issues caused by animal waste.”
• Chickens produce 1/12 the waste of the average dog in a day and chicken waste is excellent fertilizer for gardens and yards. Dog waste is toxic however we have no regulations banning dogs for the reason of their waste.
4. “Potential attraction of vermin and predators to the area.”
• the vermin and predators are already here digging through our trash etc, chicken owners are more hyper aware of preventing vermin in order to keep their flocks safe.
5. “Zoning issues, especially if the animals or their eggs are sold commercially.”
• place restrictions and laws limiting the number of hens a family can own and require an annual owning license for chicken keepers.
6. “Smell from animal waste, if not from the animals themselves.”
• chickens are not dirty or smelly animals when kept in backyard coops rather than in large factories. Chickens themselves do not emit odor and chicken waste emits very low odor, much lower than a dogs, and quickly decomposes into fertilizer.
7. “Proper elimination of liquid and solid waste.”
• chickens do not produce two types of waste. They produce only one type of solid waste. They produce approximately 1 oz a day and it is not toxic to the environment but rather beneficial.
8. “Proper housing of the animals.”
• require those with chickens to keep them in enclosed runs and coops.

Overall there is no valid reason listed to restrict chicken ownership. Below is a list of myths vs. facts about chicken ownership and common solutions and limits that might allow for citizens to own chickens and quail while keeping them manageable. Many citizens currently own chickens and were not even aware they were breaking the law. The city has clearly not had any issues with those already keeping chickens so why do they refuse to allow them? We need to change this law

Benefits Chickens & Quail Offer

• Raising chickens and quail help reduce environmental impact.

• Factory farmed eggs cost less but they lack the nutrients of backyard-raised eggs.

• Eggs fresh from your backyard instead of trucked halfway across the country reduces fossil fuel usage.

• You can use chicken manure as fertilizer in your backyard garden.

• Factory-farmed chickens are not being raised in sanitary conditions.

• Chickens and quails provide opportunities for children to learn where their food comes from and teaches responsibilities and gives confidence when they help care for backyard flocks and coveys.

• Chickens eat a variety of weeds and disease carrying insects.

• While walking in an enclosed run their feet till, turn, and aerate the soil and their manure fertilizes the ground which is great for gardening.




Chicken & Quail Statistics

• According to the American Pet Producers Association, about 10 million U.S. households had backyard chickens in 2018. That’s about 8% of all households in the US.

• A 2015 study showed that of the 150 most populated cities in the United States, nearly all (93%) allowed backyard chickens.

• As of 2011 93% of all U.S. cities allow the raising of backyard chicken including New York, Denver, and LA

Common Concerns & Their Solutions

• Noise complaints
(Not permitting roosters is a solution, however, see common myths and facts for why this is not really a relevant argument.)

• Overcrowded and unsanitary conditions
(Solution, limit the number of hens to 2 per family member with a maximum number of 10 for chickens, and/or 6 quails per family member with a maximum of 30. The likelihood that anyone will want to keep 10 chickens or 30 quail is extremely unlikely and placing arbitrary limits on head counts just frustrates the community. Hen hoarding is not something that happens as hens are expensive to keep and feed.

• Waste product, chickens produce significantly less manure than dogs and their manure smells far less but has the added benefit of easily comparable into amazing garden fertilizer.

• Anyone can purchase a chicken on a whim and then abandon it.
(If there is concern on who can own chickens enforcing a yearly backyard poultry license will be enough to deter individuals from impulse buying hens)

• Chickens will get loose and that is frustrating to neighbors.
(Solution, chickens must be kept in enclosed coops and runs.)



Common misconceptions

Myth: Chickens are dirty
Fact: Chickens spend hours a day dust bathing and preening to maintain good hygiene.

Myth: Chickens smell
Fact: chickens are not smelly animals. Their waste smells but when maintained no smell will emanate from a chicken or quail coop. In addition, each hen produces 1 oz of manure each day which becomes fertilizer, dogs on the other hand produce 12 oz of manure each day which cannot be used as fertilizer and has much stronger odor.

Myth: Chickens lower property values
Fact: Chicken-keepers view their coops and flocks as a sense of pride and take landscaping and maintaining the yards and coops very seriously. There is no evidence that chickens hurt property values. The opposite has been proven true, however. A Forbes list of top ten housing markets appreciating in value showed that all ten cities permit chicken keeping.

Myth: Chickens and Quail are noisy
Fact: Hens are not ordinarily noisy animals; a rooster’s crow is about half as many decibels at 1 meter (48) as a dog barking (70-100). What’s more, a lawnmower at 1 meter is 107 decibels and we have no limits on dogs or lawnmowers because of their noise. Additionally, quail are extremely quiet, even a rooster crow sounds like other birds chirping and pigeon cooing.

Myth: chickens require a lot of land
Fact: each chicken only requires about 4 sq ft of land and each quail only requires 1 sq ft of land to be healthy and thrive. The number of chickens wanted by each family is usually far below a family’s ability to keep according to land requirements.

Myth: Chickens attract rodents and predators
Fact: wild animals and rodents already reside in every neighborhood and are attracted to food sources. A bird feeder or trashcan will attract the same number of pest or wild animals. Chicken keepers are more aware than the average citizen of the threat of wild animals like raccoons and skunks because of the need to protect our flocks. More measures to prevent these pests on our land are taken than the average individual with a bird feeder.

Myth: chickens are only kept for egg laying
Fact: most chickens do not lay an egg every day. Most quail do lay each day, but their eggs are 1/3 the size of a chicken egg. Chickens are kept for companionship, entertainment, therapy animals, and hobbies as well as for egg laying.

SOURCES


The Happy Chicken Coop. “Raising Chickens in the City -.” The Happy Chicken Coop, 15 Apr. 2022, https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/raising-chickens-in-the-city/.
Kathy, The Chicken Chick®. “Legalizing Backyard Chickens from a Former Chicken Outlaw and Attorney.” The Chicken Chick®, 25 Apr. 2017, https://the-chicken-chick.com/legalizing-backyard-chickens-from/.
Pepin , Ivy. “HOW MANY CHICKENS ARE IN THE WORLD AND THE US? 2023.” Thehumaneleague.org, 10 Jan. 2023, https://thehumaneleague.org/article/how-many-chickens-are-in-the-world#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20American%20Pet,all%20households%20in%20the%20US.