Monique Watts had the pleasure of having her hens returned this last Sunday after a lot of time away. Now that the City is allowing her to keep the hens on her property, albeit with some new distance and feeding restrictions, Watts is happy to have the brood home. After a neighborhood homecoming party, the chickens are roosting in their rightful place once again.
BR: How are the girls fairing
now that they’re home?
MW: I’ve
been amazed at how much they actually remember after being away from their
city home for six months. They went to their favorite scratching and
hiding places as soon as they were able to roam the yard. And they showed
visible confusion at the change in their roost in their hen house. I moved it a
few inches lower and to another wall. When they went to roost the
first night, they kept looking up at where their old roost used to be. But now
they are settled in and seem very content.
BR: Were you surprised
that no neighbors voiced concerns in the end?
MW: Not at
all. I knew from the beginning that it wasn’t any of my immediate
neighbors and was probably someone who intentionally turned me in for spite.
BR: Will you run workshops
through Urban Roots?
MW: Urban Roots
does plan to host an urban chicken-keeping workshop in the near future. MAP has
also expressed interest in doing workshops.
BR: Do you find the new guidelines to be
restrictive for you?
MW: Very
restrictive. My yard is quite large as city lots go, and I had a very difficult
time adhering to all of the guidelines for distance from property lines.
Basically, some people would have to put the coop in the middle
of their yard – which can be done with smaller units, but since I
built mine before the guidelines were written and it is larger than
most city coops, it was difficult to place. I hope that those who want to
house hens, but can’t be within those guidelines, would be able to get a
variance if their neighbors had no objections.
BR: We heard there were nicknames.
For you or the chickens?
MW: No
nicknames for me please – I would like to let those go. But the chickens have many, many
nicknames depending on their actions – Fuzzy Butts, Roto-Hen, Bug-in-ator
and obviously variations on their names – Mama Effie – gets called Mama a
lot.