Should Salem chickens hope for a coup?
Mar 1, 2011 Food news, Local food, Reader questions and answers
Photo by Sam Dean l The Roanoke Times
I talked to my dad this weekend, and he’s thinking about putting some chickens in his backyard so his wife’s grandson can help raise them and sell the eggs. The experience, Dad thinks, will teach the young ‘un about responsibility and business.
Fortunately for my father, he lives in a clearing in the middle of the woods in rural Bath County. I don’t think anybody is going to be complaining about his chickens there. But if you’ve been following the work of my colleague, Neil Harvey, you know a stink has been raised about chickens in the city of Salem.
It seems that after some complaints, Salem City Council is thinking about revising the municipal code to disallow chickens within residential areas. The council was supposed to take action on this subject at last night’s meeting, but they announced yesterday that they would table it and do some more research on the subject before moving forward.
Neil interviewed one Salem resident and chicken owner, Maggie Newman, who said her five hens are not loud, do not smell, eat vegetable scraps, fertilize her lawn and produce about three eggs each day. She said a neighbor told her she reported her because “it just didn’t seem right.”
Obviously, I cannot judge whether the chickens are loud or smelly because I haven’t been over to Ms. Newman’s neighborhood to hang out and see/smell for myself. However, I have in the past seen backyards turned into nasty, muddy dog runs by a couple of large dogs. And when those dog owners let their pooches poo in the yard without ever cleaning it up, that starts to smell pretty disgusting. But dogs aren’t disallowed, are they? That same point was raised in Neil’s article by Salem Radford Planning Commission Chairman Tracy Howard, who said: “Me, personally, I think it’s a property rights issue. People can have a half-dozen dogs barking and stinking up the yard, but you can’t have chickens.”
Also from Neil’s story: “Roanoke allows 10 chickens for 20,000 square feet as long as bird keepers don’t sell their produce.
Roanoke County allows fowl in areas zoned for agriculture and, in Blacksburg, chickens are allowed in residential districts, but only in the rural zones near the town limits. Radford’s planning commission has, since 2009, been considering an ordinance that would allow small farm animals such as chickens and goats within city limits, but as of now they’re only allowed in the city’s outlying conservation district.”
I predict that this is going to be a hot issue moving forward. In the midst of a food revolution, people are only getting more interested in growing and raising their own food. I can understand why roosters, who crow loudly at odd times of day, should not be allowed in residential areas. But I’m not sure whether I feel the same way about laying hens.
I will open the discussion to my readers. Would you want chickens in your neighborhood or not?
why are we picking on the
residents whom raise chickens for the eggs ,or meat. With the prices the way they are today more people will need to do this.
What about dogs, cows, and
horses that are inside the city ,so why are we picking on chickens.
Comment by william paxton — March 1, 2011 @ 7:42 am
My sister lives next door to some people that have about a dozen chickens on their half acre lot. The husband built a nice looking coop and keeps it pretty clean, as there is no odor at all. You do hear his rooster crowing at odd hours. That would be the only negative, if you even consider that a negative. Personally, I don’t, and my sis says she really doesn’t even notice. Their yard is fenced, and you seldom even notice the chickens outside.
I don’t know how many eggs they lay, but it is enough for the couple to give some to some less fortunate people in their church every week.
Comment by abdnva — March 1, 2011 @ 8:00 am
I am pro chickens! They are easy to care for and are such sweet creatures. And who doesn’t like eggs? Not to mention they eat lots of bugs if allowed to roam freely… bad bugs like TICKS and such. Save the backyard chicken!
Comment by Beet Queen — March 1, 2011 @ 8:01 am
“a neighbor told her she reported her because ‘it just didn’t seem right.’”
Here is the problem. Its a larger problem than chickens. No grievance other than “it just didn’t seem right.” Many things don’t seem right to me, but unless they are causing me harm or a great nuisance, to each his own.
I’d have no reason to call “fowl” on a neighbor with chickens unless they were causing a big problem.
Comment by Ed S. — March 1, 2011 @ 8:03 am
The Colonel wants chicken in all neighborhoods.
Comment by david speight — March 1, 2011 @ 8:41 am
After reading Neil’s story on today’s front page and reading the comments on this entry so far, I have to wonder, where are these people who have complained? Everyone who has spoken up so far has said they favor allowing chickens. Did these folks send anonymous letters and now don’t have the guts to go to the meeting and explain themselves?
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 1, 2011 @ 9:27 am
My wife and I plan to get chickens once we have a house again.
So of course we fully support chickens in Salem city limits.
I think Lindsey hit on a good point: What were the complaints, and who was complaining?
Could the paper get these via a public information request?
Comment by Patrick Beeson — March 1, 2011 @ 9:44 am
The smell and the noise could get to be a problem if people go for larger flocks and didn’t keep coops clean. Restrictions could deal with size of the flocks, number of roosters allowed, and coop size. Dogs can be noisy, if not noisier, and more prone to bite, etc., etc. I’m fine with keeping chickens if there are limits like the ones I mention above.
Comment by Cynthia D. Bertelsen — March 1, 2011 @ 10:01 am
Another pro chicken vote. I’d love to have them here in my non agricultural area of blacksburg.
Comment by Robin — March 1, 2011 @ 10:03 am
A lot of things in my neighborhood don’t seem right…like the hot pink house, but no ordinance in my town that I’ve found dictates aesthetics beyond an overgrown lawn. Maybe it should.
I’d take chickens over a pink house any day!
Comment by Cole76 — March 1, 2011 @ 10:17 am
I would rather have the chickens next door. They aren’t obnoxious like neighbors with dogs.
Comment by Emily — March 1, 2011 @ 10:22 am
Being a city girl, I was never really around chickens. Until a friend in a neighboring town got 6. Unless you’re told about her chickens, you’d have no idea they’re there. No smell, no noise, they’re fun to watch pick around the yard and I enjoy the fresh eggs. I say yay for chickens! I agree with Roanoke City’s ruling of numbers of chickens per size lot though.
And like other commenters have said, they’re certainly quieter than some dogs!
Comment by Nikki — March 1, 2011 @ 10:32 am
Agreed. I’m friends with the Cox’s that are fighting the chicken battle and I’ve never noticed any smell and you wouldn’t even know they were out in the yard until you saw them. Much less annoying than my neighbor with the dog in the back yard that barks at random times in the middle of the night.
Comment by Bailie — March 1, 2011 @ 10:36 am
Lindsey – I have literaly gotten over a hundred calls since Sunday’s article was published and 100% of them have been supportive. There were many people at City Council’s meeting last night in support of backyard chickens, but not a single person there to show any opposition.
Comment by Maggie Newman — March 1, 2011 @ 10:51 am
If noise is the problem (roosters), are they necessary for eggs (hens)? Sorry, but I’m a city boy, so I really don’t know. I thought roosters were necessary to make chicks, not eggs.
Comment by david speight — March 1, 2011 @ 10:55 am
I live in the town limits of Dublin and I had a good bit of resistance to having chickens in our half acre yard. I made multiple calls to the planning comission, the town police station, and others. They all said “No, livestock is not allowed.” But no one could give me a reason why. Finally I went over everyone elses head and contacted the mayor. He said as long as I didn’t have roosters (don’t want them I like to sleep late too!), kept my flock small, and kept them contained, he was all for it. I have 4 hens, get 3 eggs per day, and use their waste as fertilizer for my organic garden. I have many neighbors (some who avoid conversation with me now) that hate the idea that I have chickens in town. No one complained when the neighbor left his dog tied out without a dog house for 3 years regardless of the weather, but I have 4 3lb birds and I get the police called on me several times in the first few weeks I had them. People just have this idea of what living “in town” should look like and anything outside of that norm and they panic and create problems with their neighbors. All I have to do is remind them that there is a 500 head cattle farm less than a 1/4 mile from our neighborhood. So much for being “in town”
Comment by Jeremy in Dublin — March 1, 2011 @ 10:58 am
I am Pro-Chicken! I like eggs, and I like chicken!
These people are just trying to make it in this economy. What is wrong with that?
Comment by Kathy — March 1, 2011 @ 10:59 am
The big problem is that some people take a condescending attitude towards others who fail to meet their high standards. These are the same type of people that create neighborhood covenants – such as cloning mailboxes, house numbers, entry door colors, etc. The type of people who are aghast that their neighbor has a clothesline in their backyard, even though the clothesline is hidden from street view.
Those are the type of people who ‘just don’t think it seemed right’.
Comment by abdnva — March 1, 2011 @ 11:13 am
All these chicken haters need to CLUCK off!
Comment by Jeff — March 1, 2011 @ 11:18 am
Those are our chickens in the photo. Lindsey, I’d love to invite you out to meet our gals personally if you would like. Please contact me at anytime.
Comment by Carrie Cox — March 1, 2011 @ 11:27 am
Good luck finding them, Jeff. Nobody has heard a peep out of them. Har har. We’ll be here all day with the chicken puns.
Carrie, I would love to meet your girls. My dad is looking for advice on how to build his coop.
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 1, 2011 @ 11:31 am
No problem with chickens here! I agree that dogs can be just as, or more, annoying than a few chickens.
Comment by Natasha — March 1, 2011 @ 11:32 am
I would most definitely allow chickens in my neighborhoods. If properly cared for like most any animal there should be no smell, or other annoyances. And I would feel much safer eating the eggs from a local chicken then one from grocery store. If you are unsure about the difference in quality then I would challenge you to simply try a few eggs from Walmart, and compare them to local eggs. You will be able to tell the difference immediatly upon cracking the egg open. Local egg shells are stronger and healthier looking then common supermarket eggs and they certainly taste better.
Comment by Melissa Eide — March 1, 2011 @ 12:12 pm
Love the idea of chickens in the backyard. Thinking about doing it myself.
Comment by Debbie — March 1, 2011 @ 12:17 pm
SOme neighbors of ours have a few chickens in a coop in their backyard. There’s no smell where we’re at, and other than the rooster crowing a few times a day, there’s no sound really either. And even that’s not too bad, we can’t hear it inside the house like we can the speedway or drag strip, or the trains, or the F-18 jet fly-bys when they buzz the tree-tops on their training runs through Radford. Maybe if I lived in a subdivision like I grew up in it would bother me, but we lived in a very mixed socio-economic area and it’s just part of the fabric there. A good number of people have their own gardens too.
Comment by Other John — March 1, 2011 @ 12:35 pm
In general though, I have absolutely no problem with people using their home lots for gardens, small livestock pens, or anything else. I chose to live in a rural community rather than in town or in a subdivision with a HOA because I like having freedome to use my land as I see fit, and not having to have every little minute detail approved by neighbors or some governing board. I can understand people living in high-end well-kept subdivisions complaining about it, but by the same token that’s also why I’d never live there. I’d probably get harrassed for putting my truck on jackstands over the weekend to do a brake job and oil change.
We’re finally planning our garden for our yard this year, and we had contemplated having a couple chickens, though since we can’t/don’t eat eggs any more, it seems a little dumb to do it since our only real benefit would be the fertilizer.
Comment by Other John — March 1, 2011 @ 12:43 pm
The “Salem Chicken Lady” is my son’s wife and, like on “Raymond ,” we live next door. Maggie is a devoted wife and mother who is also the president of the East Salem Elementary School PTA. She started this project for several reasons: teaching her children about the responsibility of caring for animals, restoring the grass in her shady back yard, and collecting fresh eggs for her family. Living next door, I can tell you that there is no noise, odor or anything negative that can be attributed to the chickens. I recently visited Fair Oaks, California, and, to my delight, the town is famous for it’s chickens who roam freely among it’s residents. They have a facebook page and I encourage you to look them up. There will always be people who will take a negative attitude towards things they don’t understand. Please do not let a few uninformed Salemites take this freedom away from Maggie, her four children, and anyone else who would like to have a small number of chickens in their back yards to produce education, fun, and lip-smacking fresh eggs!
Comment by Rebecca newman — March 1, 2011 @ 12:48 pm
My family owns 7 hens right here in Salem. No one knows that we even have them because they are so quite. I have one neighbor that is even close enough to see them and she loves them and the free eggs! I can’t say enough about how friendly and gentle my chickens are. And the eggs….. We get 5-7 large brown eggs everyday, one of our chickens is an Aracauna and she lays the most beautiful blue/green eggs! Organic eggs…I know just what is going into those eggs. It is a wonderful experience for my children and my husband and myself, I am just like a big kid, I still get a thrill every time I look in those nest boxes and find a prize! Chickens are quiet and if you keep their living area clean there really is no smell! Believe me, I don’t want a smelly yard either!!! Please support us in SAVING THE CHICKENS IN SALEM!
Comment by Lorrie Brown — March 1, 2011 @ 2:15 pm
I’ve thought about keeping chickens myself and I completely support this lady in her efforts!
To the people who complained that it “didn’t seem right”…get a hobby.
“Local egg shells are stronger and healthier looking then common supermarket eggs and they certainly taste better.”
This is absolutely true and I commented on this at home last night…I buy my eggs from a lady I buy some other things from as well, and I have to bang those eggs pretty hard on the bowls edge to get them to crack. The color of the yolks on these local eggs is a beautiful deep orange, positively bursting with goodness, not some anemic yellow color.
Comment by Kristen — March 1, 2011 @ 2:17 pm
I would have had some long ago, had I known it was allowed! Yes! Keep the chickens, and don’t let it EVER be voted on..indefinite is better than 60 days! I think those who were against it, and the council, as well, had no idea what kind of resistance they would get from the other side! I am so glad the article was online the other day to alert everyone to the situation!
Comment by Della Knight — March 1, 2011 @ 2:49 pm
Thanks for all of the great comments, folks.
What kind of lettuce is it, Kristen?
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 1, 2011 @ 2:49 pm
Black-seeded Simpson. I have no idea why I picked that kind.
Comment by Kristen — March 1, 2011 @ 2:59 pm
My neighbors used to have both dogs and chickens (not together). Of the two I preferred the chickens, especially the hen who came to meet me every day after work (I always had a little birdseed for her).
Comment by Dave — March 1, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
Kristen, my advice is going to be either transplant it now and protect it until the danger of frost is gone or wait a few weeks and direct sow some seeds in the ground.
My dad suggests fashioning curved hoops out of coat hangers and sticking them in the ground over the row, then putting some plastic over it to make a mini hoop house.
But last year, I just planted my lettuce right in the ground. I have also planted seeds in a large pot and snipped what I wanted for salads as needed.
Someone else surely knows more about this than I do, so speak up.
You can also go to the Virginia Cooperative Extension website for tons of info:
http://www.ext.vt.edu/
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 1, 2011 @ 3:20 pm
Hey look at it this way as soon as the council figures out how to tax the chickens it will be ok to have them.
Comment by charles — March 1, 2011 @ 3:25 pm
People just don’t have enough to do. Is this even an issue? What about my neighbors with the dog(s) that go ape when I’m in my yard and bark their little hind parts off AT ME… in my yard. In one of my previous homes in Salem, I had a neighbor that had two large dogs that shazbotted all over the tiny back yard until the ground was completely covered in turdage. Did the city respond to numberous complaints regarding that? Nope.
Comment by George Krutz, III — March 1, 2011 @ 3:26 pm
We planned on getting about 5 chickens in the spring for a coop we already built. We are also in the process of building a beehive to help revive the honeybee population due to Colony Collapse Syndrome. If Salem has tabled this issue, then I am confident that it means they don’t find it to be a big deal.
Comment by belle — March 1, 2011 @ 3:41 pm
I am totally PRO-CHICKEN! I would love to have a coop in our yard, but we’d need to fence it. Alas, I’ll just keep getting them from the Farmer’s Market.
I can only wonder if the people who’ve complained know where their eggs come from. It ain’t the foam box at Kroger. I’d rather have the fresh eggs that the Newmans & Cox family has than eggs from a facility with thousands of hens sitting in their own filth.
Comment by Lori — March 1, 2011 @ 3:43 pm
I’d rather have a hundred chickens in my back yard instead of the smelly dog that’s out there now.
Comment by Sandy — March 1, 2011 @ 3:52 pm
Calling because it “just didn’t seem right” despite the fact that there was no problem is ridiculous. If your neighbor is doing something that could be harmful to others, or appears to be running a brothel then you call the authorities, otherwise MYOB.
Comment by Debbie — March 1, 2011 @ 4:24 pm
Ain’t nobody here but us chickens.
I live in the Wasena area. There’s a family down the street from us who recently acquired some chickens and I think it’s pretty cool. It’s making me think about acquiring some myself.
Comment by Dylan — March 1, 2011 @ 4:33 pm
Just because man has raped and ravaged all but a few acres of land in this country doesn’t mean one can’t go back to nature a little bit–I think it’s wonderful that people want to raise chickens and produce eggs and have vegetable gardens, etc. I think there are too many too many nosey neighbors with not enough to do–let’s outlaw THEM and keep the chickens. I hope these people who are trying to help our economy by raising their own food will be allowed to live their lives the way they see fit–they are not bothering anyone, and the nosey neighbor, like the one who reported this because “it just doesn’t seem right” perhaps needs to GET a life. Live and let live people!!!
Comment by Linda Karnes — March 1, 2011 @ 5:10 pm
After reading all of these comments, I decided to do something. I bought a dozen peeps and put them in my back yard. I dare the neighbors to report me.
Comment by david — March 1, 2011 @ 5:17 pm
PEEPS? Ack! Now that is a crime.
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 1, 2011 @ 5:22 pm
Says the lady who tried to make ‘homemade’ PEEP’s. You thought we had forgotten, didn’t you? ha ha ha…
Comment by abdnva — March 1, 2011 @ 5:50 pm
Having recently started our own little backyard laying flock, I say let the chickens roam the yard as much as possible. No kidding, we had not one tick last summer. This is the first time in 20 yrs I have not found ticks on me when working in the yard. What a great way to prevent Lyme disease and get rid of a myriad of insects. Plus eggs, fertilizer, and fun to watch.
Comment by Chickens yes — March 1, 2011 @ 7:03 pm
The Cox’s chickens are 45 short-legged steps from my home. I forgot they even had chickens. They don’t smell or make noise. They hang out, peck and mind their own business. Maggie Newman is my friend. Her chickens are benign as well.
Comment by Wendy Wall — March 1, 2011 @ 7:49 pm
I live in Franklin county and help raise 9 lovely hens. Not only are they quiet, they are very friendly. They eat all the scrap veggies and keep the yard free from ticks and grubs. I’m pro chickens and I think it’s a darn shame that people would prefer a tied up pack of dogs to free range chicks! They produce yummy eggs and their fertilizer is excellent for our large garden. Get with self sufficient program Salem! These chicks also reduce our dependence on fossil fuels to transport our eggs!! It’s only a win situation and I’m a supporter of all you Salem chickenites! Keep up the good fight!
Comment by Erika — March 1, 2011 @ 9:43 pm
We have 5 hens and a rooster. We got the hens 2 years ago for the purpose of having eggs. We raised them from 2 day old chicks, so they are extremely docile and loving and are pets that just happen to live in a coop instead of dog house. We initially had reservations about getting a rooster because we were afraid he’d be loud… but after 2 years of hearing nearly constant barking dogs, and having lost 1 hen to a dog attack from a non-stray that was off leash and in OUR yard, we relented – so he could help protect the hens. Well, I dare say our neighbors’ dogs are FAR louder when they bark (and they bark tremendously more often/consistently), they are far more destructive of our neighbors’ yards, and are far more likely to make their way into MY yard to do their business, than any of our chickens could ever do. Yet dogs are never questioned. How is that fair?
Comment by Didi — March 2, 2011 @ 7:55 am
Dylan, GWTW?
Belle, did you read the article this morning about the guy who moved the hive from his house in OSW, who goes around giving classes on bee-keeping?
Comment by Kristen — March 2, 2011 @ 8:30 am
We’re adding chickens to our garden this year too. Of course, out here in Floyd that’s not a problem. We’re also raising 30 broilers for the freezer. A run of broiler chicks in usually male, but even if someone chose to do this in an urban/suburban area, broilers are dispatched before they find their voices. Roosters are unnecessary for a laying flock unless the owner wants to expand the flock with chicks from their existing hens.
Having lived next door to a couple that was raising their own chickens (with rooster), goats, and multiple small yapping dogs, I can say from miserable experience that it was the whining, yipping, yowling 24/7 that made life unbearable, and the local county authorities that refused to do anything about it. We finally bought them out. Problem solved, but a radical and expensive solution.
Comment by other Rebecca — March 2, 2011 @ 9:31 am
Ab, I have not forgotten the horrors of the homemade Peeps attempt, and that’s exactly why I say it’s a crime!
This is a tremendous amount of positive feedback. Again I will say, where are the folks who want chickens banned? I believe it is this kind of response that has Salem officials rethinking their approach to the matter. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 2, 2011 @ 10:04 am
The people who would complain are not the type of people who would populate this website. They also are the type of people who would object to chickens because the chickens are ‘unseemly’, and would ignore the constant barking of their neighbor’s four dogs.
It’s all about perception. Some people want to pretend they’re ‘above’ having neighbors raising chickens, as they don’t even try to understand the logic, but only fear they’ll suffer socially within their clique.
Comment by abdnva — March 2, 2011 @ 11:14 am
There will be a story on the WDBJ news tonight. I hope all you chicken lovers will watch!
Comment by Maggie Newman — March 2, 2011 @ 2:07 pm
“Kristen Says:
March 2nd, 2011 at 8:30 am
Dylan, GWTW?”
Kristen, I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means. Laughing to myself trying to figure out what that acronym means though. sorry…..
Lil help?
Comment by Dylan — March 2, 2011 @ 4:51 pm
To me, GWTW means – ‘Gone With The Wind’, but I don’t think that applies here.
Comment by abdnva — March 2, 2011 @ 7:03 pm
I for one am all for the chickens, my husband and I have been thinking of getting a few ourselve for the eggs, it healthier, cost efficient and free fertilizer for my garden. The people down the road shoot guns every single day and on weekends all day long, so I’m sure my chickens won’t make that much noise. Hooray for the chickens
Comment by Teresa — March 2, 2011 @ 8:02 pm
I live in a rural area where I have pet chickens . They are amazingly intelligent, personable birds. Hens are social and they definitely recognize familiar people and will trill and “talk” to you. Some are so tame they will jump in your lap for a cuddle. Small breeds, called bantams, are as small as some parrots. People keep the smallest breed, Seramas, as house birds.
Chickens are evolving from livestock to pet status in more and more areas of the country. A person keeping a few hens would be far less of a nuisance than one who keeps 2 noisy dogs outside 24 hours a day.
Comment by M Welch — March 2, 2011 @ 8:51 pm
Dylan, it does stand for Gone With the Wind, and its the only context I can recall someone saying “ain’t nobody here but us chickens”….Scarlet says it at some point I think.
Comment by Kristen — March 3, 2011 @ 9:55 am
Apparently, “There ain’t nobody here but us chickens” is a song written by Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney in 1946, later recorded by Louis Jordan. If you want to smile at least once today, listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKxj3KbSiYk
“There ain’t nobody here but us chickens
There ain’t nobody here at all
so quiet yourself and stop that fuss
there ain’t nobody here but us
we chickens tryin’ to sleep, and you butt in
and hobble hobble hobble hobble it’s a sin”
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 3, 2011 @ 10:28 am
haha….yeah,that is what I got it from, the Louis Jordan song.
But thanks for shedding the light on the acronym everyone!
Comment by Dylan — March 3, 2011 @ 12:48 pm
I think it’s great that people have chickens in their backyard. Who wants to buy the eggs at the stores who come from those pitiful factory farm chickens? They CAN’T be healthy if you see how the chickens look and how the ‘live’.
I would love to have chickens.
Nan Fariss
Comment by Nan Fariss — March 9, 2011 @ 10:31 pm
My family and I live in a subdivision in nearby Botetourt County. My 12 year-old daughter raised pet chickens in a backyard coop for nearly a year before we learned that residential zoning and pet ordinances do not recognize chickens as pets. After three months of appeals to county officials, we are left only with disenchantment and disappointment. The board of supervisors has turned a deaf ear to the issue, refusing to allow a public hearing and ignoring a request to modify the existing pet ordinance. I understand that others in the area have been caught up in similar situations. I hope that this and other blogs will help to impact change and educate others. Please voice your opinion. Should chickens be allowed as pets in residential areas? If so, what guidelines or restrictions should be in place?
Comment by Mike Lawson — March 25, 2012 @ 10:12 pm
Thanks for your comment, Mike. I’m sorry your daughter’s pet project was foiled. I have passed this on to our Botetourt County reporter in case he can check into it. I would have thought the county was a good place for chickens.
Comment by Lindsey Nair — March 26, 2012 @ 10:28 am