Damn the Man: Keep Chickens!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Like many people in the area, I would dearly love to a flock of hens.  I’m not that keen on slaughtering and eating them, but the fresh eggs?  Hell, yes!  My little burb in Delco is not zoned for livestock, and neither is Philadelphia proper (although there are pockets of the city where it’s not uncommon to find people keeping chickens anyway).  That may soon change if the folks from Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction have anything to do with it.

Art in the Age is sponsoring a petition that seeks to repeal the current laws that prohibit “the keeping, raising, and habitation of chickens in the Philadelphia metro area”.  To promote the cause, artist Bill McRight created (in collaboration with Art in the Age) an original design: a woodblock carving of Bill’s interpretation of the egg farming and hand drawn text in pen and ink to give the cause “some real pecking power”.

There are a million reasons to do your own urban chicken farming, from wanting to know your eggs are safe to wanting to have a more economical source of eggs.  And many cities do allow residents to keep chickens (you can find a full list at The City Chicken).  There are regulations, of course - some require chickens be kept a certain distance from the neighbor’s house, some limit the number of chickens allowed, and others require a permit. 

Considering Philadelphia’s current budget problems, perhaps Mayor Michael Nutter might consider the permit option.  Portland, Oregon charges $31 per permit.  Denver, Colorado charges $50.  With the upsurge in interest in keeping chickens in an urban setting, no doubt this could create some much-needed revenue for the city.  And it would certainly empower city residents to feel more connected to their food sources.