Resident hopeful city council will support backyard chickens

To the Editor,On October 6, Tecumseh City Council will hold a study session to examine the pros and cons of passing an ordinance legalizing backyard chickens. This is an important next step toward making such an ordinance a reality, and we encourage residents to contact council members to express their support for it.People want to keep chickens for a variety of reasons, but having a source of healthy homegrown eggs is often at the top of the list. Chickens are low-maintenance and make good pets, but beyond that, many chicken-keepers are concerned about where their food comes from, and what went into producing it.Backyard eggs give us a small measure of control over our food supply at a time when many people believe that industrialized agriculture has failed us. Those who raise backyard chickens can choose exactly what their hens eat, thus limiting any contaminants — like toxic herbicide residue in conventionally farmed corn and soy — that pass into their eggs. Such contaminants have been linked to various health problems and debilitating conditions.In addition, since composting is the preferred method of disposing of chicken manure, chicken-keeping and gardening often go hand-in-hand. A backyard vegetable garden, enriched with composted manure rather than chemical fertilizers, further contributes to a family’s food security.In an editorial for The Rapidian (Grand Rapids, Michigan), sustainable farmer Joel Salatin says, “Perhaps nothing indicates a community’s desire for integrated, secure food systems as succinctly and dramatically as urban chickens… Any city, village or hamlet that jumps on the home-chicken tsunami shows a love for food freedom, ultimate food democratization, and a can-do spirit toward self-sufficiency. What’s not to love about that?”We hope that City Council members will take into account these larger issues as they debate whether to allow residents to keep up to four hens (no roosters) in Tecumseh.You can learn more at our website, www.tecumsehbackyardchickens.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook. com/tecumsehbackyardchickens.Lee WalshAdmin. Backyard Chickens Tecumseh