Minneapolis Chickens, Bawk Bawk
This summer a rooster moved in two doors down from me, and it crowed every day, all day. I understand why the City of Minneapolis contemplated an ordinance to ban roosters from the city limits. City Council Member Don Samuels says they won’t vote on the ban.
While there are over 100 legal chickens in the city, there are hundreds more illegal chickens. Occasionally in my neighborhood (Midtown) you see a chicken running loose in the streets. This area of the city has immigrant and first generation families from all over the globe, and many folks still practice some form of animal husbandry, most notably keeping chickens for eggs.
If you live in a municipality that allows chickens (that includes Minneapolis!) there is even a stray chicken rescue program. You have to promise not to bake the chicken into hotdish, however. Seriously.
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I once saw someone at Balls give a presentation on urban livestock and talk about the chickens he kept in his backyard. (Not exactly performance art, but whatever.) He, I think, was a born-and-raised city person. Seems like a lot of work for some eggs.
My homo second cousin Berkeley, he raised chickens on the roof of his condo for eggs… they were illegal, but he said that the fines were worth it for him, so he just kept them there and masked them with shrubs. Oh hippies. =)
Hey!
Ok this is too WEIRD! I was actually the guy that was at Balls caberet that night with my chicken speech. I actually raise them with Leslie Ball and a bunch of other neighbors on Nicollet Island. I will argue that reading an essay is a preformance art, as public speaking takes some guts, as does interpretive dance or juggling or whatever… Further more, the amazing eggs that we collect aren’t the same product as the 5 week old eggs you buy in the store. Freshness and flavor were strong arguements for foodies like us. Also ethics, considering that the average egg farm could make a concentration camp look like a spa visit in the eyes of a chicken.
Anyway… The skinny on the rooster ban is this, we (the chicken keepers of MPLS) have been insured that it will be dropped from the adgenda like a bag of hot nickels, but there is always a chance that it could be revived somehow. There is enough existing language in the cities noise ordinances to handle any problem animal noise like barking dogs or rooster crowing, for those who disturb the peace. We are fairly organized with plenty of civil and public support so it should just quietly die. Anyway, we have to ask or neighbors for written permission for our roosters. Why should we be punished because somebody doesnt want to play by the rules?
Cock-a-doodle-doo!