Over the last two days, the Record Eagle has received a couple of well-written responses to the TC Planning Commission’s negative response to allowing chickens on private property within the village limit.  Bravo citizens!  

In praise of chickens

The Traverse City Planning Commission recently discussed backyard chickens. Traverse City residents should discuss community needs. I support raising chickens in my backyard for pets, eggs, fertilizer and pest control.

First, supporting local food sources reduces carbon footprints. This is as important as the fact that fresh eggs are superior to hormone-ridden factory eggs. Factory chickens are grossly housed, forced to stand in their own feces and sickened from disease. This should be the focus of concern for avian flu. Backyard chickens are part of the solution to this fear.

Chickens are great pets, giving children responsibility and joining the community together. Seattle, Wash., embraces the concept to the extent of having chicken coop tours in the city. It grants simple living, reconnecting us to our neighbors and food source.

Chickens give a natural source for pest control and fertilizer. This saves our lakes from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

There are also concerns about neighbor’s dogs and other predators. The chicken coop provides warmth and safety. Smell seems to be another concern, as it should be. Just like attending to any other animal, cleanliness is important.

Together we can build a cool, sustainable and safe community.

Kimberly Dante
Traverse City

Chickens not a problem

Really, I can’t believe that the Record-Eagle is serious in opposing a move to allow chickens within the city limits. One reason I can’t believe you’re serious is that your editorial mocks earnest citizens with a perfectly reasonable request, treating it like a joke.

Another reason I can’t believe you’re serious is that you don’t come up with one good reason to prohibit birds in our backyards. Noise? Seriously? I would much rather live next door to five chickens than two dogs. Or one leaf blower!

Smell? Again, between chickens or dogs, I’ll take the chickens. A loose chicken might make a motorist swerve? Seriously? What about cats, dogs, children and squirrels that dart out in front of our cars? Should we outlaw them too?

Yes, a dog might kill a chicken and there would be a problem; just like when a dog bites a child or kills a cat. Are you seriously going to penalize the victim? And are people really going to go to the city commission with a straight face and say that feathers flying over the fence will upset them?

I hope none of those people have bird feeders.

Christine Bazzett
Traverse City

Township meeting scheduled for Tuesday to finalize the purchase of the Center Road property!

Coming home to TC to roost article from the Traverse City Record Eagle.

We move in two weeks and already, I’m planning raised beds for the back of the property.  Since this property has a lawn that has been “treated” for the past five years, we’ll be digging out the grass down to the soil below and filling that with our nitrogen-carbon contents to rebuild the soil to a state of ultimate health.  I’ll likely dig down four inches, then raise the bed a total of four plus eight – 10 inches for a nice rich, deep topsoil layer.  

Obviously, it’s important to consider the wood you use when building walls for a contained raised bed (recommended) – nothing treated with chemicals that could leach into your food or deter microbes from growing in the soil.  There are websites offering pre-made components, but you can just as easily create your own, keeping in mind the type of wood, metal or other materials you choose to use as a surround.  

Moving into an association will be a first for me and I must admit, a part of me is bucking the idea already, but this will be an opportunity to address the need to educate the least experienced backyard gardener.  The toughest issue for me will be the neighbors on either side of our property, spraying their lawns with broad-leafed killers and chemical fertilizers.  My garden will need to remain a safe distance from either border and will not have an immediate hedge-row to embrace it’s development.  We’ll be starting literally from the ground up.

For now, I’ll continue day-dreaming about my seed-order next spring.