Lots going on. Yesterday was my hearing. One vote for my interpretation of the ordinance. Four against. Okay….round 2. Appeal to circuit court. Okay…will do.
Aaron Applegate interviewed me outside the hearing and I ended up in the paper again. I am stoked about that as it is more positive energy flow for my girls and the rest of the city who wants to keep chickens for many of the same reasons I do. My dad turned on the radio and they were talking about me on WNIS and the things they were saying were, in my opinion, ignorant. I do not mean that disrespectfully. I mean that literally. By the definition. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary…ignorance: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. People tend to assume things they obviously know nothing about. He was talking about how they would attract rodents with food all over the ground and how that would be a danger to the neighborhood kids. I immediately called in to set the record straight. My chickens are in a fenced in screened over pen. They do not roam freely around my yard. If feeders attract rodents then we need to make wild bird feeders illegal too….ridiculous! He is sending his producer to my house this afternoon to make a judgement on whether or not he would live next door to me or if he would have a problem with a neighbor having chickens. I invited him! Please come check out my set up!
I then got all fired up and wrote yet another email to ALL city council members. The following is a copy of that letter as sent!
To all council members:
Did you know a backyard flock, WITHOUT a rooster, still gives fresh nutritious eggs to the family that has them? Did you know they eat pesky mosquitos and other undesirable bugs like fleas and ticks? Did you know they eat garden pests and weeds? Did you know they eat all kinds of kitchen scraps and turn that into valuable fertilizer and eggs? I am asking these questions, respectfully, because until a couple short years ago, I didn’t know the answers to those questions. I thought you had to have a noisy rooster in order to get eggs. That is fiction, you only need a rooster if you want fertilized eggs, for more chickens.
I invite you to come check out my setup. My set up is clean and maintained to a high standard. My neighbors support me. I provide my family with food, in the form of good quality eggs. They are quiet. They are my pets.
In this economic time of uncertainty, backyard hens help in so many ways. Directly through food and fertilizer for my vegetable gardens. Also stress relief as they are a major source of entertainment for me. Indirectly, through keeping my neighbors close knit as they all enjoy my chickens and the excess eggs I provide their families in this harsh economic time.
Everyone is “going green” and backyard chickens will certainly help with that as well. They keep much food debris out of the landfills that would in turn become methane gas. They produce valuable topsoil that has become scarce in this country. I encourage you to check into this as a solution for many things in our environment today.
This could create jobs for the city as those desiring chickens could pay for a license and inspections that we could pay for. (Just like when we get inspected by the people for home improvements, electric, water, heating and air conditioning.) This could generate more income for the city while keeping foodstuffs out of the landfills and providing fresh, better than store bought, eggs for families.
I look forward to your thoughts.
I am looking for support from at least one council member to assist me in changing the city ordinance to allow backyard hens. Do you truly care about your city? Do you truly want to support sustainability? I provided you all in previous emails a packet of information of other cities that allow backyard hens.
Knowing where your food comes from may not be important to you, but it is very important to me and my family and my neighbors.
I am more than willing to be a “test case” to see if backyard chickens will work in our area. There are already hundreds in the city that have chickens in residential zones. They are afraid to come forward for fear of losing their flock. I am not getting rid of my chickens. One of you may as well jump on board because I am not going away. Every day, more and more people call me and come by my house to see what I have going on because they want what I have. Change is coming. I invite you to be integral in that change.
Thank you for your consideration,
Tracy Gugal-Okroy
Feel free to call and come check out what I have.
Great story on channel 13 news…. Your setup looks great! Nice to see that the news presented the story in a positive light. We just sent a letter to each City Council member referencing the city’s sustaniability initative and how chickens are a major part of their own goal. I hope they read it and I will let you know their response.
My wife and I were wondering where you got your chickens? We are looking to start our own secret flock.
I got them from a farm in Suffolk and from good ol’ Southern States feed store on Military Hwy and Greenbrier. They have all you need to get started. Plus they are very friendly and helpful. I learned a great deal from them in the past year and a half. Keep your flock secret but come to council meetings and speak up to your council member representative over the phone, emails, any way you can. It is going to take a united community to get this changed. They don’t need to know you have chickens.
Thank you very much. Are yours quiet and what breed are they? We have wanted chickens for over a year but were disappointed by city ordinance.
You are very welcome! YES…Mine ARE quiet!!! They are so quiet and about the only time they make any noise is when they lay an egg….it’s called an egg song…they announce they just did. It lasts a few seconds and it’s over. It is about as loud as regular human conversation.
I have several different breeds. I have some mixed barnyard chickens….who knows what they are…I have Americaunas, Moyers Large, a buff Orpington, a Dominique, and a Rhode Island Red. I too am disappointed by the ordinance. Please join in sending emails to council members, call them, fill out the city questionnaire regarding sustainability and what it means to you. My opinion is sustainability and chickens go hand in hand. I highly recommend getting yourself a copy of City Chicks by Pat Foreman. I also recommend listening to The Chicken Whisperer radio talk show. They have both been very helpful to me in what I am going through. Andy, the chicken whisperer, goes around the country helping folks get their ordinances changed. He has a great deal of experience in the matter and is generous with his time, energy, and knowledge.
You are welcome to come see my set up and meet my girls. They are used to people coming to visit. I am willing to be a “test case” for the city. My girls are confined to their own pen which is fenced in and deer netted over. They cannot get out and the only thing getting in has opposable thumbs. Let me know if you want to see them and get ideas for your set up.
Check out this link from CNN News….
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2012/04/08/nr-whitfield-urban-chicken.cnn
Thank you for sharing this link! I watched it and think it is great! It is definitely a growing trend. Once people have them…..they want them for good. My heart is definitely in with my flock. I am fighting to keep mine! Thank you again!
This is so cool. I would love to keep chickens. What general area of VA Beach do you live? If I just got a couple I am afraid my noisy neighbors would call the city. What do they do, confiscate them and fine if found? Keep up the good work!
I live in Aragona. It is over by Pembroke Mall area. I checked with my neighbors first. Repeatedly. BEFORE I got my girls. I had a neighbor move and the very same day the people who bought the house moved in, I let them know. They had NO PROBLEM with me having AND KEEPING my hens. I think it is important to be open about it. When people hide it and try to be sneaky, it is almost like they are daring the neighbor’s to say something. I believe in being open and honest. Just a suggestion. Feel free to contact me and come see my girls. They are quiet and friendly.
Hi Tracy, I am just discovering your situation and am reading up on what you are doing. I think it is great and would love to help. Has there been a final outcome for you yet? Do they take your chickens if you lose? How much is the fine? I also have started a “secret flock”( except to my side by dide neighbors, who do not mind at all), I have 5 hens; 3 americaunas and 2 black australorps. I told my husband that we will move before I give them up.What kind of support do you need to make change?
Hello and thank you for showing support! No, there is no final outcome for me….yet. The final outcome will be backyard flocks legal in Virginia Beach.I am committed to that happening! They will not take my chickens. I do not think it will come to that. There has been no fine. I am in the appeals process. That is not cheap or free. The support I need for the change to happen is large showings of people at the city council meetings. So far it has just been a handful, the most was 8 or so. And so far I am the only one who has spoken on the chicken issue. Until more people step forward and show up and speak up…..
I hope you are enjoying your flock. I know I am enjoying mine. I know many more people who have illegally gotten chickens but who have not spoken up. That is what is needed. People showing up. It is the second Tuesday of every month. Once there is a large enough showing, they have to put us on the agenda and vote. Call me and I’ll fill you in. 513-7825.
ITS NICE TO SEE THAT THERE ARE OTHERS OUT THERE WITH THE SAME INTENTIONS. I HAVE BEEN DEBATING HAVING CHICKENS FOR PROBABLY A YEAR NOW AS WELL AS MY OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN OTHER VB AREAS. I LIVE IN ARAGONA AND KNOW ITS CURRENTLY UNLAWFUL. COUNT ME IN TO SUPPORT THE PUSH TO CHANGE THE ORDINANCE. THERE ARE A TON OF REASONS WHY IT WOULD BENEFIT EVERYONE…. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHY THE ORDINANCE STATES WE CAN’T HAVE THEM. WHAT IS THE REASON… SEEN THE MOVIE FARMAGGEDON… THERE MAY JUST BE SOME UNEDUCATED FAR OUT REASON FOR NOT ALLOWING IT. ..OR MAYBE WE JUST NEED TO FLASH SOME MOOOOLA IN THERE FACE .. IN THE FORM OF A PERMIT TYPE DEAL . LET ME KNOW ABOUT THE CITY HALL DEAL AND I WILL TRY TO CONTRIBUTE.