Our Mission-WE DID IT!

Pinellas County Citizens for Backyard Poultry is a grass roots movement that promotes backyard poultry keeping (but NO Roosters, or loud fowl) in Pinellas County by working toward a change in the Pinellas County Code of Ordinances to allow this activity.

Victory!

The ordiance to allow up to 4 hens in residential zones of Pinellas County passed 12/20/2011 around 10PM!

The votes was 5 to 2, with Latvala, Bostock, Brickfield, Welch & Roche voting for the ordinance and Seel and Morroni voting against it. 

“A rooster may crow, but it's the hen that delivers the goods, and she is quiet about it too!

Poultry include a variety of birds like ducks and chickens that can make very loving pets in addition to providing eggs and assisting with gardening. Getting a pet that provides an additional benefit beyond companionship and love is a green choice. In their 2009 book “Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living,” Dr. Robert and professor Brenda Vale maintained that even a medium-size dog eats up to 360 pounds of food per year and has an environmental impact greater than that of an SUV driven 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles) a year.
Read more:http://www.care2.com/greenliving/top-5-greenest-pets.html#ixzz1EHo5XOWv

Please Say Thank You

Dear Commissioner,

I am so grateful to have the opportunity to keep some hens in my backyard. Thank you for voting yes on the new backyard chicken ordinance.
 
Thank you,
Pinellas County Citizen

Pinellas County Commissioners

Click on this link to write a letter or call or make appointments to visit individual commissioners at the numbers below.
http://www.pinellascounty.org/forms/bcc_form.htm

Neil Brickfield
Commissioner

District 1 - Countywide
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3365 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

e-mail nbrickfield@pinellascounty.org

Norm Roche
Commissioner

 District 2
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3360 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

e-mail  nroche@pinellascounty.org

Nancy Bostock
Commissioner

District 3 - Countywide
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3363 Tel
(727) 464- 3022  

e-mail nbostock@pinellascounty.org

Susan Latvala
Commission Chair

District 4
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3276 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

e-mail slatvala@pinellascounty.org

Karen Williams Seel

District 5
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3278 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

email kseel@pinellascounty.org

John Morroni
Commissioner
Vice Chair

District 6
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3568 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

e-mail: jmorroni@pinellascounty.org

Kenneth T. Welch
Commissioner

District 7
315 Court Street
Clearwater, FL  33756
(727) 464-3614 Tel
(727) 464-3022 Fax

e-mail ktwelch@pinellascounty.org

New York, Paris, London…
What Major Cities Have That We Don’t?

Backyard chickens. Seriously. Most major metropolises in both the United States and Europe allow backyard chicken keeping. Here is a very short list of cities in the US that allow backyard chicken keeping; Tampa, St. Petersburg, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New York City, Chicago, Ft. Worth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix. As more people become educated on sustainable living practices, chickens have come home to roost.  Chickens allow home owners a great way to get off pesticides for their yard and home. They also provide gardening services and eggs for breakfast. Can your cat or dog say as much?

Phoenix Even Has Backyard Coop Tours

Tour de Coops: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

Why Are Backyard Chickens So Controversial?

by Sarah Parsons June 24, 2010 09:30 AM (PT)
http://food.change.org/blog/view/why_are_backyard_chickens_
so_controversial  

A few chickens are ruffling a lot of feathers. Across the U.S., major cities and small towns are deciding whether or not to allow citizens to raise chickens in their backyards. Oklahoma City is the latest town to consider amending its zoning laws to let residents house chickens on their properties, and it's far from alone.

Cities like Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, and Nashville allow backyard chickens, while Kansas City bans the practice. According to Food Safety News, this month alone, "cities from Holyoke, M.A. to Truckee, N.V. and many in between have been considering zoning code amendments to allow residences on lots as small as 5,000 square feet to raise a few chickens in their backyards." The issue is so controversial that it's not uncommon to find one town that allows the practice, and a neighboring city that bans it. It's a local struggle that's become so widespread it's garnering attention at the national scale.

I think it's encouraging to see so many cities considering amending zoning laws to allow for backyard chicken-raising. But the whole situation begs a bigger question: Why are the birds so controversial in the first place?

I took a look at the "cons" of backyard chicken raising, and here's what I could dig up: For one, many folks complain that the birds are too noisy. I've got to call out this excuse as one of the lamest. Sure, chickens make noise, but no more so than dogs, cars, or children. Personally, I'd rather hear the clucking and squawking of a chicken than loud-mouthed neighbors.

Other people complain that the birds smell, and that a greater presence of poultry could attract coyotes and foxes to residential neighborhoods. If chickens are properly cared for and their lodging cleaned and maintained, I find it hard to believe that the smell of a few birds could emanate to other yards. Plus, putting up a fence helps protect chickens and keeps critters like coyotes and foxes from roaming into the area.

Yet another controversy (which I admit really is a cause for concern) is that chickens carry diseases. Salmonella naturally resides in the birds' intestines, and can spread through their droppings. If city folks go handling chickens without learning the proper procedures first, they could end up with some very sick families. Luckily, the rules are easy to follow: Make sure to always wash your hands after handling chickens and anything they've touched, and make sure no birds or equipment that touches chickens makes its way into the house. As Food Safety News notes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers tips for those raising backyard chickens.

Despite these concerns, it's clear that the benefits of raising backyard chickens far outweigh any negatives. For one, raising your own chickens brings the local food movement to a whole new level—it doesn't get much more local than your own backyard, cutting out all the carbon emissions associated with shipping eggs and poultry. If you're raising chickens on your own, it ensures that eggs are completely free-range and organic. Factory farming chickens is not only cruel, it creates massive amounts of waste and pollution. Raising your own chickens decreases the demand for these operations. Plus, cage-free eggs are associated with better nutritional content, like less cholesterol and saturated fat and higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin A, vitamin E, and beta carotene than conventional eggs.

Given just how beneficial backyard chickens can be to families across the country, let's hope all these local towns stop their squawking. It's time to amend zoning codes to allow all residents to raise backyard birds.

Benefits of Backyard Poultry

      fresh eggs
      organic fertilizer
      pest & weed management
      tilling of garden soil

         entertainment
         companionship
         education
         support of animal welfare 

Fertilizer from backyard poultry sustains a garden in our sandy soil without the need to buy expensive soil amendments.

Chickens till gardens, eat out weeds, weed seeds and insects from the soil while providing fertilizer and even digging the fertilizer inot the soil.

Poultry are endlessly entertaining.

Backyard Poultry Keeping Allowed in 1/3 of Pinellas County

There are twenty four municipalities in Pinellas County. Backyard poultry keeping is legal in St. Petersburg, Gulfport, Bellair, Largo and Dunedin. That means that backyard poultry keeping is legal in 1/3 of the county. Each community has slightly different ordinances that specify the conditions required for keeping poultry. See the ordinance page to find out more about the specific ordinances for your community.

Pinellas County Commission Districts

Pinellas County Commission At-Large Districts 1-3

Pinellas County Commission Single Member Districts 4-7

Chickens Not Only Make Great Pets, They Also Contribute to a More Sustainable Lifestyle.

Derek Sasaki
August 2007
http://www.mypetchicken.com/about-chickens/sustainable_living_with_chickens.aspx 

In this day of $3.00 a gallon gas and an economy predicated on low fossil fuel prices, there's a trend starting to take root. Call it green living. Call it self sustainability. Call it tree-hugging. Whatever you call it, more and more people want to be more connected to nature, where things come from and how things are made. We are passengers of this planet and as of right now, we don't have another good alternative home, so we all need to start taking better care of it. In addition, I don't like being at the mercy of some large corporation that's decided what's best for their rich shareholders and not the customers that keep them in business. My heating oil company "rewards" me for buying hundreds of gallons of oil before the winter season even starts so that I can be "protected" from price fluctuations (Katrina etc.) Why should something so essential - heating our homes - be so susceptible to variables out of our control? Keeping backyard chickens take us one step closer to living sustainably. I'll describe the micro-ecosystem that our 9 chickens supply to help us live more "green".

First things first: sustainable living with chickens centers on composting. Composting is a great way to decrease kitchen garbage and simultaneously create a rich, all-natural organic fertilizer. Chicken droppings along with the wood chips or pine shavings are a good base for a new compost pile or a nice addition to one you've already started. The poo contains high quantities of nitrogen, and to balance that out you'll need to add more "brown" (wood chips or pine shavings from your coop are perfect) and "green" (grass clippings, extras from the garden, etc.) in order for your compost pile to really start cooking. Your compost pile will need to be out in the rain or to have water added, plus you'll want to mix or layer it to get the final missing ingredient - oxygen.

In the fall, another great way to add "brown" to your compost pile is to throw leaves that have fallen from the trees into your chicken run. They'll love picking through them to find tasty bits and in the process they'll shred them down. Our flock of 9 chickens can easily shred down a few yards of leaves in just a couple of days. Add those shredded leaves directly to your compost pile, or directly to winter flowerbeds where it'll help keep the ground a constant temperature and will compost down to add nutrients directly to the beds come spring.

The "black gold" that results from composting can be added in the spring to your garden. It fertilizes your soil and helps prevent erosion. Anyone who has worked with compost in their gardens can attest to how much larger, more robust and more flavorful the resulting food is. The black gold can also be sprinkled on your yard so you can avoid using harsh chemical fertilizers which in most cases comes from petroleum products and can lead to algae blooms. (Just remember, though, that you should not eat foods fertilized with "fresh" chicken poo. If it's not composted first some of the bacteria from the poo can transfer to the food you eat and make you sick.)

Other ways chickens can help you live more "green": rather than throwing table scraps and vegetable extras into the garbage, put them into the chicken run. Your flock will love picking through them - and the eggs they give you will be even better as a result. If you can, let your chicken free range. They'll eat bugs, worms and weeds. Not only will this reduce the need for nasty "turf builder" type products that are terrible for the environment, but it'll decrease the amount of feed your flock requires and therefore cost you less! This will also make for better tasting and healthier eggs. 

1. Vegetarian* table scraps** and food prep to into the chicken run.
2. Our flock of 9 chickens eat the scraps along with bugs, worms and greens.
3. Chicken manure & pine shaving are collected from the coop.
4. Manure & pine shavings are added to the compost along with water and addition "brown" items.
 5. Compost is added to vegetable garden† and flower bed as natural, organic fertilizer.
6. Vegetables are grown for the dinner table.

Some smaller cycles:  Chickens lay fresh organic eggs that are used in meals, but the egg shells can be ground up and added to the compost pile.  Nonedible garden and flower bed greens can be added directly back into the compost pile.
1. Compost is used to fertilze the lawn.
2. Lawn clippings and fall leaves are added to the chicken run.
3. The chickens scratch through the clippings and leaves eating bugs and greens.
4. Collections from the run are added to the compost pile.‡
Derek Sasaki
August 2007

* If you're planning on using the compost for a vegatible garden we recommend staying away from giving your chickens meat as using manure from a carnivore/omnivore can contain dangerous pathogens. ** Avoid potato skins as they can make your chickens sick. Also, onions and garlic can flavor your chickens eggs. Add them sparingly. † As with any compost pile, making sure the temperature gets high enough to kill harmful bacteria and pathogens is highly recommended. ‡ grass is very high in nitrogen so be sure to mix it with a lot of "brown" carbon material like pine shavings or dead leaves.