Mad City Chickens Documentary this Thursday Aug 5

Come join us Thursday August 5th for a screening of "Mad City Chickens" and discussion of the next phase of making Sarasota safe for backyard hens.

The meeting is scheduled from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Mad City Chickens is a 80 minute documentary profiling people who keep backyard chickens in Madison Wisconsin. Its a sometimes serious, sometimes whimsical look at the people who keep urban chickens in their backyards. From experts and authors to families and businessmen (and women) —it’s a humorous and heartfelt trip through the world of backyard chicken keeping. The movie will start at around 6:15. This film has great info on nutritional content of backyard eggs, the real threat of bird flu, and profiles one family from the decision to get chickens through the arrival of chicks in a box and the adjustments they make.

After the film (figure 7:45) we'll review the status of our twin campaigns to legalize backyard hens in both the City of Sarasota and Sarasota County. Things are ramping up in the city and we'll be needing volunteers to get active in the next month or so. If you are serious about changing the laws, please try to attend this meeting. We are on the move.

REFRESHMENTS will be served!!

Location	Sarasota County Extension Office (conference room) 6700 Clark Road, Twin Lakes Park Sarasota, FL

For movie trailers and more info: http://www.tarazod.com/filmsmadchicks2.html

If you are a Facebook user, and haven't already joined the Sarasota C.L.U.C.K. facebook group, please do so:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=118190386787

Debunking the Predator Argument

One of objections to backyard chickens is the fear that they will increase the number of obnoxious opossums, raccoons, and rats.

The increased predator concern is common, predictable and irrational. Every neighborhood in Sarasota is crawling at night with raccoons, roof (black) rats, opossums, etc. They are eating garbage in garbage cans, cat food left outdoors, fallen fruit, and "compost" that is little more than people dumping food scraps outside in a pile. Raccoons work over fish ponds, pulling out fish and tadpoles. Some people actually leave food out for the raccoons, which can carry rabies. If you don't believe rats are already omnipresent, take a walk around any mall and you're likely to see numerous black plastic rat traps that proliferate without any chickens to support them.

Most people are blissfully unaware of all this wild nightlife, and if they were, they would probably try to forget. The point is most neighbors have little awareness of and no inclination to do anything about these night-time omnivores.

Chicken keepers, on the other hand, are passionately motivated to monitor and manage these animals, which once they learn about a food source keep coming back. C.L.U.C.K. is committed to providing prospective chicken-keepers with information about predator-resistant coops, but people who take shortcuts will quickly learn about any shortcomings of their coop design and they will be the people live-trapping predators and calling animal control to come pick them up at $20 a pop.

Yes, it costs $20 to have animal control come pick up a live-trapped animal. Expensive, but there are two reasons why chicken keepers go with live trapping. First, it is the humane thing to do -- secondly, it is a low risk strategy if you catch the wrong target species.

Six chickens is not going to support a population of raccoons for very long, and after the first hen goes, the owner will be obsessively on the case to protect the remaining birds. It can be argued that the best way to reduce night predators would be to increase the number of people keeping chickens.

Snakes are similar, but generally more of a daytime issue. Like the rats, raccoons and opossums, they are already out there. No native snake is going to bother anything larger than a pullet. The notion that the snake population will measurably increase as a result of neighborhood chickens is another misplaced concern.

If you want some advice about local coop design, write to sarasotacluck at gmail.com for a draft document.

Chickens in....... Lakewood Ranch!?

City of Sarasota residents who want their children to have a better idea where food comes from will soon be able to drive to Lakewood Ranch to see a hen house. According to a recent Sarasota Herald Tribune article, Lakewood Ranch is adding a community "SmartFarm" at the entrance to a Pat Neal residential development and the farm will include a hen house.

We didn't see that coming.

While one Smartfarm is not the same as allowing chickens at Lakewood Ranch homes, it reflects an awareness of local food initiatives we have not seen here in the City.

My Home Medicine Cabinet

My Home Medicine Cabinet – What I Use to Remedy Ailments

Posted using ShareThis

End of Year Report

CLUCK has been clucking along for about a half year now and its time for a status report.

3 • Number of online Sarasota CLUCK resources (BLOG • WEBPAGE • FACEBOOK GROUP)

3 • Minimum number of other groups that independently chose CLUCK for their chicken advocacy acronym

9 • Number of newspaper articles dealing with backyard chickens in Sarasota

24 • Number of CLUCK blog entries

40 • Percent of City Commissioners that wanted staff to work on backyard hen legalization

66 • Percent of City Commissioners needed to direct staff to work on legalizing backyard hens

116 • Number of local supporters on our email list

386 • Number of members in our FACEBOOK Group

665 • Number of times people have clicked on Sarasota CLUCK blog link on Sarasota Speaks

46,000 • Number of registered users on Backyard Chickens website

CLUCK interview on WGCU's Gulf Coast Live

Follow the highlighted link to hear a one hour interview with CLUCK activist Jono Miller. Recorded December 22, 2009.

Next meeting Weds Dec 16 Selby Library

We'll be meeting at the downtown Sarasota Selby Library this Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. We meet upstairs in a meeting room on the east side of the building. We'll review what's been happening, particularly the recent City Commission discussion, and discuss future strategy.