Update on Salt Lake City Domestic Fowl Ordinance

I received the following email about the public process and the updated version of the ordinance:

Good afternoon,

On Thursday, November 5th, the Salt Lake City Council will hold a public hearing regarding proposed amendments to the Salt Lake City Code (8.08.010, 8.08.060 and 8.08.080, and enacting section 8.08.065) to allow chicken keeping in residential areas with certain requirements. If approved, chicken keeping would become less restrictive as long as guidelines such as total number allowed, space, shelter and sanitation requirements are observed.
Attached is a fast fact on this issue, or if you wish to review comprehensive information on this issue, please visit: http://www.slcgov.com/council/agendas/2009agendas/Nov5/110509C4.pdf

Thank you for your interest and comments on this issue.

The Council meeting will take place at the City & County Building, 451 S State Street, Council Chambers, Room 315 at 7:00 pm.

If you are unable to attend a City Council meeting, other options to view or listen to the meeting:

* visit: www.slcgov.com/council/<http://www.slcgov.com/council/> and under the “Audio/Video Link” column listen to Council meetings live from a computer
* view a rebroadcast of a City Council meeting on SLCTV cable channel 17
* visit: www.slctv.com/vd_city_council.htm<http://www.slctv.com/vd_city_council.htm> to listen to a previous Council meeting or download a podcast
* contact the City Recorder’s Office at 535-7671 and request a CD copy of a Council meeting or on this particular agenda item
If you wish to submit additional comments:

Mail: Salt Lake City Council
451 S State Street, Room 304
P.O. Box 145476
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-5476

Visit: http://apps.slcgov.com/general/absolutefp/councilAll.htm
Email: council.comments@slcgov.com<mailto:council.comments@slcgov.com>
Call 24- hour comment line: (801) 535-7654
Fax: (801) 535-7651

When providing additional information or comments to the Council, it is helpful to include your name, address, contact number, email, and submit a set of bullet points, such as:

* Issue/concern/problem
* Concerns/objections to the proposal
* Aspects of the proposal you support
* Questions you may have
* Recommendations for solutions
* Information you want to be sure the Council knows
* Other
Thank you.

Jan Aramaki
Salt Lake City Council Office
Council Staff Member
451 S. State Street, Rm 304
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
801.535.7600 (telephone)
801.535.7651 (fax)

Salt Lake City Domestic Fowl Ordinance Facing Changes!!!

Please see Amy’s note below:

Hi All,

Salt Lake City Council is proposing to limit the number of chickens you can own (according to lot size). Currently, you can own up to 25 birds. But with the new proposed changes, most people who live in the downtown area, like I do, would be limited to 4 CHICKENS TOTAL! See below:

“The number of hen chickens which may be kept shall be limited based on the size of the lot or parcel as follows:

a. ten thousand (10,000) square feet (approximately .23 acres) or larger: to twelve (12)

b. nine thousand (9,000) square feet (approximately .21 acres): up to ten (10)

c. eight thousand (8,000) square feet (approximately .18 acres): up to eight (8)

d. seven thousand (7,000) square feet (approximately .16 acres): up to six (6)

e. at least five thousand (5,000) square feet (approximately .11 acres): up to four (4).”

Ten thousand square feet is very large lot and not very common (at least in my area/ downtown).

There is one good thing about the proposed changes which is that your coop could be 25 feet away from a house (which is better then the current 50 feet law — seeing as most lots in SLC are small).

Here is a link to the Salt Lake City Council page with all of the info: http://www.slcgov.com/council/

Fact Sheet: http://www.slcgov.com/council/announcements/FFchickens10-13-09.pdf

Comment online: http://www.slcgov.com/council/ Click on “Submit Comments on a Specific Issue” on the right-hand column menu.

Mail (one copy is appreciated): Salt Lake City Council Office, 451 South State Street, Room 304, PO Box 145476, Salt Lake City Utah 84114-5476

Phone: 24 Hour Comment Line – 801-535-7654
Fax: 801 -535-7651

If you own chickens please comment. And if you don’t own chickens maybe you can pass this one to someone who does.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!

Amy

Crouching

We’ve noticed a new behavior in our hens since some of them have started laying eggs.  When you approach them in the coop or outside of the run, some of them have started crouching on the ground with their wings lifted a little out to the side.  It’s almost like they go into a trance, and they’ll let you pet them until at some point they snap out of it and realize they don’t want you to touch them after all.  Then they’ll run off.

Has anyone else noticed this with their chickens?  We are sure if it’s from some predator bird flying overhead, or just some sort of mating behavior they take on once they’re laying.  It’s interesting to see.  It’s nice not to have to chase them in order to pick them up, but it doesn’t necessarily seem like they’re enjoying it either.

We Have Egg!

Thar she blows!  The most beautiful egg I’ve ever set my eyes on.  We suspect Rosie, because she’s the most mature in her appearance, and the brown color means it’s one of the black sex-links.

Not too early after all.

Laying Eggs

Okay, maybe we were jumping the gun on egg laying.  Another text we were reading said that the average age hens start laying is 5 to 7 months.  We are just barely at 5 months (or 20 weeks).  There’s supposed to be some variation based on breed, and I can see that our aracaunas are going to be later than the black sex-links just based on physical maturity.  The aracaunas are just barely starting to develop their combs, where Rosie and Speck have pretty substantial combs already.  We are switching to laying mash this weekend when we purchase our next bag of feed.

If anyone has any input on this subject, any personal experience, please share it with us.

Oh, and the girls are getting pretty stubborn when it comes to rounding them up at night.  They love hanging out in the shade under the viburnums so much that they’re beginning to refuse being herded into the secure run in the evenings.  Last night I had to climb into the outdoor run, and even then, had to do a bit of chasing around to get them in.  Looks like I need to bring my herding dog in and give them what for ; ).

Eggs Any Day Now

Our chickens turned 16 weeks old last week, so according to the reading we’ve been doing, we can expect to see eggs any day now.  It is with a new anticipation that we greet the girls in the morning, thoroughly scanning the nesting boxes, the rest of the coop, and the run for any surprises.

The chickens are so much fun to visit regardless.  They come running when they see or hear you walking up, and start making all kinds of noises to communicate with you.  They’ll eat scratch grains out of your hand, or any other treat you want to offer up.  They’ve gotten so big – it’s hard to believe they all came in a box the size of a happy meal.

Lucy Flew the Coop

Or to be more exact, she flew out of the run today.  We have a small section we let the girls out in when we are at the office which is not covered on the top.  There are some large viburnum shrubs that provide most of the shade and cover in the area, but apparently it isn’t enough to prevent the girls from flying out.  We don’t know if she was scared by something, or just curious.

Jan went out to check on them, and Lucy was pacing the railroad ties just outside of the run, trying to figure out how to get back in.  It took a few tries, but Jan was eventually able to get Lucy back in the run.  We then secured some bird netting over the top to discourage any more ideas of flight.  It wouldn’t be a big deal if we were in a more rural area, but we’re located between two busy roads in the city.  We also heard recently that nearby chicken farmers have had hawks swoop down right in front of them to try to get their chickens.  I think the area in question is too small for a hawk to swoop into, but we’ll play it safe instead of risking the loss of one of our girls.

Sign is Up!

We finally completed our last major piece of the Sugar House Chicken facilities… hanging up the sign.  The beast is rather heavy, so Jan and Craig engineered a sturdy footing.  Craig insisted on a 30″ depth for the footing – when you’re removing soil a teaspoon at a time with a post-hole digger, this is REALLY deep : ).

I should also add photos of the beautiful nesting boxes that Craig built to the flickr lineup.  Soon enough we’ll be scouting for eggs in them.

The girls have been enjoying the cool mornings out under the viburnums, but quickly retreat to the cool of the coop as the day heats up.  The were treated to gobs of worms yesterday thanks to their new best friend, Laramie.

Names

We finally have names for all of our girls (see their photo lineup here).  Lucy and Ethel are the latest additions to the roll call.  Both are aracaunas – Lucy is, of course, a red head, and Ethel is a short little blonde.  They are the latest name additions to Ru (short for Ruby or Rudy if she turns out to be a he), Speck, Rosie, and Dora (short for Dorado).  It helps to be able to call them by name, but now I think we’ll really have a hard time turning them into broth if the need arises ; ).

Dust Baths

Looks like it’s time for us to put in a little dust bath area for the girls.  I went out to see the girls after being gone for a week, and three of them had a deep hole dug in the run, and were trying to flatten themselves out in it and take a dust bath.  The soil isn’t the best for a dust bath, so I think we’ll have to put in an area with some sand for them to use.  Years ago, I remember getting a particularly sandy load of topsoil delivered for my garden.  I remember all of the little sparrows going crazy and taking dust baths in the new garden beds.  I had never seen them do a dust bath in our yard before, and all of the sudden we had a huge flock bathing all afternoon.