Sarasota Herald Tribune Guest Column asks: Why Can't a Chicken Live in the Suburbs?

A recent Sarasota Herald Tribune guest column asked: Why Can't a Chicken Live in the Suburbs? The essay attempted to clarify an unusual situation characterized as a "chicken sandwich" in which chickens are allowed in the most rural and most urban areas of Sarasota County, but not in between in the suburbs.

The article urges citizens to contact their elected officials. For Sarasota County, they are currently the following:

You can contact the commissioner from your district (map below) but if you email, cc all the others.

Carolyn Mason

cmason@scgov.net

941-861-5344

Joe Barbetta

jbarbett@scgov.net

941-861-5344

Christine Robinson

crobinson@scgov.net

941-861-5344

Nora Patterson

npatters@scgov.net

941-861-5344

Jon Thaxton

jthaxton@scgov.net

941-861-5344

Mail to

1660 Ringling Blvd.

Sarasota, FL  34236

CHICKENS 101 Class Venice Sept 15

Head to Venice for a Chickens 101 and Chickens Fair September 15 from 9:00 until noon.

An introductory, hands-on workshop on the fundamentals of raising chickens such as:  local laws and resources; benefits of chickens; the basics (breeds, housing, feeding, health, chicken development); biosecurity; and getting started.

CLUCK will be there.

For more info and registration (you can walk in on the day of the event) click this link.

September 2012 Sarasota CLUCK meeting

If you missed this meeting, check out the Sarasota Patch article: Sentinel Chickens An Important Part of Mosquito Control based on the presentation at our meeting. [comment added Sept 23rd)

You won't want to miss our next meeting of CLUCK where Natalie Osborne from Sarasota County Mosquito Control will describe the crucial Sentinel Chicken program. These birds are our county 's early warning system for mosquito-borne diseases, including West Nile Virus. 

As always, we'll also be talking strategy for our campaign to legalize chickens in more areas in the Unincorporated County.

And the meeting starts at 6:30 not some earlier time previously advertised.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12TH  6:30 P.M.

LOCATION: Florida House, 4454 Beneva Road Sarasota, FL 34233. 

Questions? Call Laney 941-322-1000.

Sentinel Chicken & West Nile Virus Illustration from http://westnile.ca.gov/wnv_faqs_basics.php?id=74

FOR MORE STORIES ABOUT SENTINEL CHICKENS

PREVIOUS BLOG POST

WEST NILE VIRUS IN SARASOTA (JULY 2012!)

SARASOTA COUNTY MOSQUITO CONTROL MANAGER RESIGNS (September 4th!)

Local Coop Builder Profiled in Herald-Tribune

A Tom Becnel article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that ran on Monday September 3rd profiled local coop builder Tom Dye. Titled "Carpenter turns his hand to cashing in a growing trend in poultry", the article acknowledges Sarasota CLUCK's role in local chicken advocacy.Tom is one of at least three local Sarasotans that have taken to building chicken coops as part of their income stream. Tom's website backyard-coops.com includes descriptions and photos of the "Mini-Cooper", "Chicken Little" and "The Leghorn".

For previous postings about coop builders see: Ira Kleinschmidt's Chicken Tractor and Mike Lasche's Another Chicken Tractor. For local chicken resources, visit Sarasota Chicken Resources.

Hurricane Isaac and Backyard Chickens

See our recommendations regarding hurricanes and hens. Click on the link below.

http://sarasotacluck.blogspot.com/p/hurricanes-and-hens.html

CLUCK news: Coop Tours Celebrate Chickens

Not only are chickens being tolerated in many American cities, they are now being celebrated. The July 25th Dining section of the New York Times leads with an article "Where It All Comes Home to Roost" that features the Tour de Cluck in Davis, a California city of 65,000 as well as chicken coop tours in Seattle, Salem Oregon, Madison Wisconsin, Santa Fe, and Austin.

Poster for Coop Tour in Lexington Kentucky

Meanwhile, the latest issue (Vol. 7 No. 4) of Backyard Poultry magazine has an article on how to organize a coop tour. That article mentions tours in both Portland and Salem oregon, both Raleigh and Durham North Carolina, East Dallas Texas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Madison Wisconsin.


According to an idealized sequence proposed in 7 STAGES OF CHICKEN KEEPING IN THE U.S., Coop Tours represent the sixth stage of chicken keeping in the US: "Relaxation -- Celebration". In this phase cities that already allow chickens relax restrictions through reduced permitting requirements and/or allowing an increased number of birds. In addition "cities advertise coop tours and embrace their identity as being chicken-friendly. Allowing chickens now suggests a progressive community." 

CLUCK News: Can chickens cure cancer? The answer may surprise you.

Photo of Professor Jim Womack taken by Dave McDermand

There are plenty of books and articles of chicken diseases and maladies, but we don't read much about chicken cancer. Now there may be an explanation. JIm Womack, Texas A&M, Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology used 115 leghorn and Cornish chickens while studying NK-lysin, which is a bacteria-killing peptide that chickens possess. In addition to killing bacteria, NK-lysin also can kill some cancers, and not only chicken cancers. Womack tested two chicken peptides that killed three different human cancers.

Click here to read the Monica S. Nagy online article posted on theeagle.