Manatee CLUCK now on Facebook!

Sarasota CLUCK now has company on Facebook -- friends in Manatee County have started Manatee Cluck and can be found on Facebook. If you know people who support backyard chickens in Manatee County, please direct them there.

3.2 Million Dead Complicate Tornado Recovery

According to the Wall Street Journal, ravaged chicken production facilities in Alabama are complicating recovery from the tornados that recently ripped through the southeast. In addition to more than 300 people that were killed and widespread infrastructure damage, it is now estimated that more than 3.2 million chickens were killed by the twisters in Alabama alone.

CLUCK NEWS: Next "Chickens 101" Workshop Scheduled -- June 4

After 37 adults (and a bunch of kids) showed up for the second Chickens 101 workshop, it became evident that there was additional demand for this offering from our County Ag. Extension professionals. The next class will be held June 4 from 8:30 until noon and will cover local laws and resources, benefits of chickens, basic care, biosecurity, and getting started. The cost is $15, which is great value for the expertise. You can register at the local ag extension website or have questions answered by calling 941-861-9900.  This event is limited to 30 people and pre-registration is required so don't delay if you are considering participating. 

CLUCK's "Funky Chicken Facts" a hit! Over 1,000 pageviews

On January 14th 2011, Sarasota CLUCK posted a simple blog entry that contained our top twenty "funky chicken facts". What distinguished this list from many of the other chicken fact webpages was that rather than free-floating postulates that people had to "believe or not", these factoids came with live links to online sources. That enables people to dig deeper if they so choose.

Now 104 days later (April 28) we've recorded the one thousandth pageview for this posting, which has grown to 22 Funky Chicken Facts with several bonus facts (and one bogus fact) thrown in.

In other local CLUCK news, over 500 people have read our Annotated Sarasota Chicken Ordinance and nearly 300 have taken the Are You Ready for Backyard Chickens? QUIZ.  And we now have over 150 postings.

Sarasota CLUCK: Inspiration for East Coast Chicken Initiative

The online TCPalm features a Anthony Westbury story Chicken ladies all a-squawk about PSL livestock law. It seems Brenda Richardson of Port St. Lucie has been busted for having five hens on her half-acre lot and she is not too pleased. So she and her friends and allies are starting their own CLUCK group. The article mentions our Sarasota group and provides a web address for our blog. There is also a link to the Port St. Lucie online petition. 

Next CLUCK Meeting: Give Peeps a Chance -- this time the county

The City of Sarasotans can now have chickens, so let's start working in the county! Come join us in an active discussion to plan our next steps toward changing the zoning for residential properties in Sarasota county to allow chickens. Wednesday May 4th 5:30-7:30 pm  Sarasota County Extension office, Twin lakes park 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota, FL 34241 Refreshments will be served

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CLUCK ASKS: Dyeing Chicks -- Totally Cute, Completely Inappropriate, or somewhere in between?

Image from Cuteoverload.com

Although illegal in some areas, the practice of dyeing chicks for Easter holds on in parts of the US, and appears to be common in some other countries. Dyed chicks in China. Dyed Chicks in India. Dyed Chicks in Yemen.  Dyed Chicks in Morocco. Farm Sanctuary produced a video about some dyed chicks they rescued in New York City.

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What many people don't know is that, at least in the US, the chick embryos s are dyed in the shell before they hatch, not afterwards. The resilient fuzzballs seem ignorant of their skittle-colored get-ups and ultimately grow new undyed feathers.

Here are some concerns:
Since this involves injecting dye into the shell, there is undoubtedly some loss
This practice may encourage people to buy chicks they are not prepared to care for
Frequently people end up with more cockerels (baby roosters) than they bargain for
This practice encourages kids and adults to view living creatures more as toys

Take our poll (on the right at the top) to register your opinions about dyeing baby chicks.