We’ll soon find out. A meeting to discuss a proposed city ordinance allowing the raising of a limited number of hens on Knoxville properties is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 10 at Lawson-McGhee Public Library from 2-4 pm. The initiative is spearheaded by the Knoxville Urban Hen Coalition.
Knoxville Urban Hen Coalition mission:
A growing number of cities are amending codes to allow people to keep backyard chickens. There are two main reasons – food security and health issues. With the economic downturn (and food price rises in 2008) there is a surge in interest in backyard food production in general. Also, with health issues such as ecoli and salmonella, people want healthier, safer food.
Many cities have recently passed ordinances allowing a small number of chickens including Seattle, Portland Oregon, San Francisco, Denver, Fort Collins, Madison, Cedar Falls, Cincinatti, and Portland Maine.
I’m all for any good reason to expand property rights and increase self-sufficiency. Only hens are allowed. Unlike roosters, hens are reasonably quite. Far more quite, in fact, than many dogs. Few things are more annoying than constantly barking dogs. By comparison, potential chicken noise seems tame.