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.

FOOD&WINE features Peter Burkard's fresh eggs and CLUCK

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune's FOOD & WINE supplement (May 30th 2012) features a Cooper Levey-Baker EAT NEAR story about Peter Burkard, the only remaining original vendor at the Sarasota Farmer's Market. On Saturday morning's Peter can be found at the west end of an alley running between Main and State and he is usually at the end of a line of people buying fresh greens, honey, cuttings, fruits, vegetables, etc. The photo accompanying the article shows lanky Peter holding two pullets and the article mentions that Peter "has nothing but great things to say about Sarasota CLUCK (Citizens Lobbying for Urban Chicken Keeping)".

Tampa Eases Up on Chicken Keeping

Chickens weren't illegal in Tampa, but onerous 200 foot setback requirements made keeping chickens impossible for all but the largest lot owners. Now, according to South Tampa-Hyde Park Patch, the City looks like it will be easing restrictions starting in 2013. According to the Tampa Bay Times, six of the seven council members voted to have staff draft an amendment for consideration early next year.