Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Chicken Whisperer discusses Back Yard Chickens with the Dunwoody Homeowners Assoc

Andy Schneider, the Chicken Whisperer comes back to his boyhood school to discuss Chickens with the Dunwoody Homeowners Assoc. from John Heneghan on Vimeo.

1 comment:

John Heneghan said...

For background, the original first draft of the proposed chicken ordinance is found here.

This week the Dunwoody Crier did a nice article on back yard chickens and Mr. Schneider "the Chicken Whisperer" has commented on the Crier site regarding a number of statements quoted in the article.

"Dear Readers,

I would like to correct a couple of mis-quotes in this story. First, the Atlanta Backyard Poultry Meetup group currently has 788 members. Second, six hens will lay an average of about two-dozen eggs per week in peak season. Sometimes more and sometimes less. There are many factors that effect the number of eggs a hen will lay. Third, the oldest hen will not always be the one that rules the roost. However, without a rooster one hen will take the roosters role to maintain flock order, look for predators as well as other things. Fourth, I recommend new backyard chicken owners start with a minimum of six hens. There is no maximum as long as you have the proper space for them and can care for them properly.

To respond to Shortal's comments above, I stated in my presentation that chickens can smell, just like dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, goldfish, and even people if not properly taken care of. In seven years I have personally lost only three chickens to predators so there is no need to guard my backyard chicken coop with a shotgun. Your mother snapping the neck of your chickens is more humane than the way the chicken you had for supper this week was treated/killed I assure you of that.

To respond to Ross's comments above, I personally invite you to come stand inside my chicken run and tell me if you can smell any bad odors. If your neighbor has never had chickens how would you even know if you would be able to smell them or not? Have you ever even seen a modern day backyard chicken coop set up?

I understand that keeping backyard chickens is not for everyone. Just like dogs and cats are not for everyone either.

I would again like to thank the DHA for allowing me to speak at their meeting. It was good to be able to separate fact from fiction regarding the keeping of backyard chickens.

Chicken Whisperer
"