Chickens in Aurora

I borrowed this image from this petition for Chickens in Aurora

This entry is focused on my experience. I'll write a separate entry detailing my list of pros and cons with regards to backyard chickens.

We moved into this house about nine months ago. It was a huge upgrade from our apartment in a lot of ways. Now, we have our own back yard and driveway. We no longer live on the third floor (with no elevator), which was a huge set-back for teaching the kids to ride bikes. Our house is close to, but not directly adjacent to, a main road. In fact, it's far enough away that I can barely hear the traffic with the doors open and the girls can safely ride their bikes to the park with us. Perhaps most importantly, the apartment had two bedrooms. This house has three bedrooms, plus one extra which has been repurposed as a playroom. Most of them are bigger than the apartment's master bedroom. This house is more than twice the size of our apartment.

Unfortunately, as with most major life changes, there were a couple of drawbacks as well. Cell phone signal is spotty, and we had to switch providers just to get usable service. Also, our living room is heated with a gas fireplace, and it gets expensive in the winter.

There's one other important area in which our home falls short. At the risk of sounding exactly like what you imagine when you hear "homeschool”... we want chickens. The city of Denver (our geographical neighbor) has approved urban homesteading measures including limited hen ownership in the city. Aurora has not.

There has been talk of the possibility at City Council meetings. We are not the only enthusiastic, budding, urban farmers in Aurora. Local people have spoken their points about the sustainability movement. Apparently, our current Mayor is in favor of the change, and has suggested implementing it through a slower process, by which certain wards would set an example for the rest by allowing urban farming first. This way, more resistant wards could watch and learn from others' success or failure.

I've been rallying for backyard hens, but only online. I've passed around a virtual petition. I've debated the benefits and possible risks in web-based city forums with less enthusiastic residents. And my efforts have not gone unnoticed.

I was recently sent an invite to, and schedule of, all of the city council meetings, from the office of our ward representative. I'm definitely considering attending, but I've never been to one of these. I actually don't know what is expected of me, or what I should expect to experience. Is it appropriate to bring my six-year-olds? After all, one of them is deeply interested in the chicken movement, and I think a city counsel meeting would be a fantastic educational experience. What would I need to do if I wanted to speak at the meeting? What would I need to know in order to prepare a speech?

One way to get the answers is to attend a meeting I suppose.

If this is an initiative you care about, check out Chicks In Aurora on Facebook and Blogger.