In Chapel Hill, chickens are considered part of the riffraff they want to keep out of the town, and they do it with zoning, according to this story. Problem is, environmentalists are now pushing backyard chicken farming, so what will the town council do as they’re pushed by their likeminded constituents to relax the rules? Writes the News & Observer:
They are environmentalists who want to shrink their carbon footprints, rebels against the food industry who want to live more self-sufficiently, and parents who want to teach their children about responsibility — and the reward of fresh eggs. And they’re keeping in touch across chicken-wire fences and the World Wide Web.
“The backyard-chickens movement is definitely a growing trend, especially in the urban-suburban areas throughout the world,” said Rob Ludlow, who runs backyardchickens.com, a Web site with 2.5 million page views a month and an online forum with more than 3,000 members, and about 18 more every day.
