Attention Lake Worth residents: Do you support the idea of “Urban Chickens”?

Here’s news from the Associated Press from late last year:

“Backyard chicken trend causes spike in infections, 1 fatal”

The opening 3 paragraphs from AP:

“Luke Gabriele was a healthy 14-year-old football player in Pennsylvania when he began to feel soreness in his chest that grew increasingly painful. When his breathing became difficult, doctors detected a mass that appeared to be a tumor.
     For a week, Dan and DeAnna Gabriele thought their son was dying until tests identified the cause: not cancer, but chickens [emphasis added] — the ones he cared for at home. They had apparently infected him with salmonella that produced a severe abscess.
     The popular trend of raising backyard chickens in U.S. cities and suburbs is bringing with it a soaring number of illnesses from poultry-related diseases, some of them fatal.”

If you didn’t know the Urban Chicken groupies here in the City of Lake Worth — the few that remain — always held up the City of Stuart as forward-thinking, on the cutting edge of “backyard chickens”. Well, then there came some very bad news as reported in the TCPalm:

STUART — In late June, residents of single-family homes were told they could have up to two backyard chickens.
     That’s no longer the case.
     Commissioner Jeffrey Krauskopf on July 10 backtracked his approval, tipping the scale against backyard chickens. . .”

If you’re new to this issue, e.g., a new resident of the City of Lake Worth (aka, “L-Dub”) or have a family with children,* below is the history of this topic going back to 2009.

History of the ‘Urban
Chicken’ in L-Dub:

Thankfully, this was an idea a former Lake Worth City commissioner kept “cooped up” after getting elected back in 2015. Ryan Maier decided not to run for re-election in 2017 but the reason had nothing to do with chickens, or eggs either. Maier never once brought up the topic of the ‘Urban Chicken’ after becoming an elected official.

“Is raising chickens legal in the City?”

No! 

Raising chickens or chicken farming, e.g., ostensibly for eggs and as a hobby IS NOT LEGAL within the municipal limits of our City. And besides, have you seen the price of eggs at Publix recently?

Do you have a “chicken problem” in your neighborhood? Contact the City’s Code Enforcement.

Image from the Lake Worth Chickens Facebook page (3/16/2013), which Mr. Maier founded.

In 2009 the City came very close to allowing chickens, ducks, and bees to be farmed for ‘personal’ use. If you can believe it, there was even a mayoral candidate (Rachel Waterman) who thought the City’s Park of Commerce would be great for a large chicken breeding/egg production facility.

For some perspective, here is a blog post from the inimitable Tom McGow on April 18, 2009 titled, tongue-in-cheek, Farm Living Is The Life For Me. . .

Notice item ‘C’ from the City Commission
agenda back then:

“. . . fowl ordinance to permit chickens”

Then-commissioner Cara Jennings (2006–2010) was a big proponent of raising chickens. Below is one of Tom McGow’s classic photoshops, note the image of Cara Jennings (top right).

“CHICKEN RUN!”

It’s funny, but not really. Chickens in an urban environment are a major public health issue, especially so for young children.

Besides chickens needing much maintenance and coop cleaning, chickens spread viruses/bacteria and also attract predators such as raccoons and feral cats (another serious problem all its own). Simply stated: raising poultry in an urban environment is a serious public health issue. In a City that is still plagued with blighted properties it doesn’t need one more potential plague to regulate. In fact, chickens are “out of the hen house” already as readers can attest by recent sightings.

Why the big deal about raising chickens in Lake Worth besides the health, safety, and code issues? Because it’s a really bad idea that needs to go away. Below are excerpts from a 2011 Post article about the “clandestine chicken army” that still struts.

     “There’s a whole clandestine chicken army out there,” said former City Commissioner Cara Jennings, who mother-henned the 2009 effort but is lying low this time.

and. . . 

     Freelance hairstylist Ryan Maier, 31, started a Facebook group called Lake Worth Chickens recently because of his interest in growing his own food.

     “I had never been on Facebook,” he said. “But I saw what was going on in Egypt, so I decided to do something.” [emphasis added]

Thankfully, the anti-chicken forces rallied. . .

     The anti-chicken organizer, Karri Casper, wrote that Lake Worth Chickens is just a subversive effort to stop development of the city and turn Lake Worth into farmland.
     “This is another plot from the Anarchists to distract us from the critical issues at hand,” the group’s Facebook page says. “For criminy sakes, this is NOT a rural area.”

It would be reassuring if, once and for all, this really bad idea gets baked, grilled, or roasted for good. Especially considering all the important issues that face this City such as infrastructure, potholes, and fixing our streets and sidewalks.

With the looming elections on March 13th this would make for interesting candidate question: “What is your position on the urban chicken?”

Really now, are those few pennies saved for chicken eggs really worth exposing your neighbors to avoidable health risks and nuisance issues?

*The ‘Urban Chicken’ (or “Backyard Chicken”) presents a very real danger for the health of young children, the elderly and pregnant women. These animals also present challenges to the State and Federal governments, e.g., food safety (biosecurity) and are a burden on local Code Enforcement as well, addressing complaints and nuisance issues.

Issues of concern related to chickens in an urban environment include (but are not limited to):

• Bacterial diseases (Salmonella and Campylobacter).
• Histoplasmosis (respiratory disease).
• Avian influenza (bird flu).
• Attraction of predators and rodents.