I, Anonymous Sep 11, 2008 at 4:00 am

I, Anonymous

Comments

1
Chickens are legal. You can have too many, but the city just makes you pay $39 and get a permit. Unless, of course, the chickens are being kept in unsanitary conditions, in which case it will be the writer that gets the salmonella. (Roosters aren't legal, but they don't lay eggs anyways.)
2
I, too, had chickens for awhile (7, fully permitted) and one of my neighbors was constantly bitching about them - for no apparent reason other than it was a convenient excuse. This is why I have come to the conclusion that neighbors, unlike children, should be seen and not heard.
3
I was told by the authority figure that issued my permit for 13 chickens that I could no longer let my flock run about my garden. I asked for the reason behind that, and he said it was to protect the chickens. Apparently it is ok to keep the hens in a tiny corral and then kill them to eat... but it is not ok to allow them to run around freely eating bugs and grass in the sunshine at the risk of being caught by someone's unleashed dog. We had a period when the chickens were breaking free from their pen, and someone called to report it.
Because I have a permit, and have been notified I must keep them penned up, I almost lost my chickens as well. If they escape again and someone reports it, I most surly will. It's hard for me to believe it was a neighbor that reported us... since ALL of them have expressed sadness in not seeing them out running around. My guess is that it was some passer-by with ill-reasoned motives... I think they saw the girls crossing the street to get to the juicy bugs under our neighbor's tree, and it was out of concern for the birds. If you think chickens running around the yard or out in the neighborhood, are being neglected, you are so wrong. It was your blowing the whistle on the escaped girls that almost resulted in their death.
4
YEAH! Go get your chicken back! Unless you treated them like shit.
5
Did you ever think they were making noise? That after a long hot day their shit, well smelled like awful baking shit? My boyfriend lives next to a house with chickens and a rooster. We have been tempted to call numerous times. But we didn't, cause we are nice people, and not to be dicks, or fucktards as you like to put it. But after hot days, you can't even go in the back yard because it smells like chicken fecal death. And not everyone enjoys the fucking constant cluck, cluck, cluck chatter of chickens. As for that rooster? I hope that noisy fucker dies. Maybe you were not taking care of them as you should, and the smell became too much. If you want farm animals... Live in the country. People live in the city for a reason. So before you run off blaming others for the loss of your happiness... Perhaps you need to think about the loss of others happiness at your expense you selfish bratty fucktard. I'm sorry you now have to be LIKE EVERYONE ELSE and get your eggs at the store...
6
Oh, neko, maybe it's YOU who should relocate elsewhere, seeing as though every other person in Portland now has chickens in their backyard. If you don't like chickens, live in Lake Oswego. People live in Portland for a reason.
7
Yeah pretty much came in here to post the same comment as above. Chickens are loud, annoying creatures. Barking dogs are also, but I know complaining about dogs ain't going to do jack shit in this town. So off with the head of the chicken.
8
Yeah pretty much came in here to post the same comment as above. Chickens are loud, annoying creatures. Barking dogs are also, but I know complaining about dogs ain't going to do jack shit in this town. So off with the head of the chicken.
9
Hey I live in the SE next to some asshole with chickens too. I work nights. I am usually able to get three hours of sleep before his rooster wakes up at 7AM and crows about every two minutes until about 8PM. My neighborhood rooster lives behind a duplex which is sandwiched between 2 apartment buildings. I don't give a shit about his farm fresh eggs because he doesn't give me any; my neighbor only gives me a headache. how would my neighbor like it if i put a 5 year old with a violin on my back porch and made him practice 12 hours a day. so fuck you and fuck your chickens. I'm feeling like an 8 piece box right about now.
10
Hategravy... You rock. As for lauren, no i don't need to relocate. I live in Portland for a reason too. It's a city! There are no farm animals for a reason. I appreciate and respect people's wants and needs even if they differ from my own. I think chickens are great, they provide much and take little. I have thought about getting some myself, but I would speak to my neighbors first, and that is called being respectful. Take into account someone's needs besides your own. Letting someone's chickens become a nuisance and not respecting your fellow chicken free neighbors is rude. Like hategravey said, his neighbors don't share their fresh eggs; I bet they didn’t even inform him they were getting animals that may disturb his way of life. I bet if they talked to him the situation would be a lot better. I used to work nights too, and let me tell you, sleep is pretty damn important to a night shift worker. I wish people would stop being rude to their neighbors. Be respectful lauren. You are rude. I gave my reasons why their chickens could have been taken away, and used my own examples to relate. I feel the person who wrote that was rude. They were a terrible neighbor. They're disrespectful and selfish. There are other people in Portland too. And unlike you and the poster, I respect my neighbors. If you want chickens, you need to do the same.
11
Neko080, your comment shows a glaring lack of imagination and basic empathy... Perhaps Anonymous wasn't cleaning up after her chickens, and perhaps the clucking was bothering the neighbors. But is it really necessary to accuse and assign blame? Can you not muster even a little generosity and give her the benefit of the doubt, seeing as you don't know her situation any better than the rest of us? It could well be that she was in fact handling her hens in a responsible manner (it's also possible that she lives on a decent size lot, as many of us do in SE), and none of her neighbors had even noticed the noise and smell. By the way, I spent a year working with a flock of 50 hens, and I'm not sure I'm familiar with this terrible stench you referenced... Oh, and I should also point out that not "EVERYONE ELSE" gets their eggs, or any other sort of food for that matter, at the store. Some of us actually make an effort to meet the people who produce our food. Now your complaint about the rooster, that I can understand!
12
Boo hoo hoo, I live in the city and I don't like noisy farmer types. Waaaah. Give me a fucking break. This city is loud as hell, if you want peace and quiet, move to the god damn country LIKE EVERYONE ELSE. It's a shame people like Neko08 are anti-self sufficiency, wouldn't it better if everyone bought everything at the store? Then we wouldn't have to do anything but sit around and bitch to each other... maybe if you were out in your garden doing something useful you wouldn't be such a raging jerk-off.
13
The way this economy is going, people had better become more self sufficient or they're going to just die off. All these worthless video gaming idiots are going to soon realize if they don't get back to nature a little bit and learn some basic survival skills, they are going to be up shit creek.

Owning chickens is absolutely fine "in the city" as long as you are a considerate responsible neighbor and treat other humans and animals with respect and concern.

As a chicken owner, it's true that hens are not super loud, haven't heard one complaint from my neighbors, and there is very little odor as long as you clean up the shit regularly. It's great for your garden and not harmful to anyone, so shut up you stupid babies.
14
you can have three withOUT a permit. (but no roosters.) just so you know, anon. so go get yourself three of those girls back and enjoy.

we had idiot barking dogs all over the hood, which i cheerfully ignored for the sake of neighborliness. which is why, when the tyrant with delusions of grandeur next door to our neighbors, complained about the chickens (he complained about everything, actually. including TREES. no, i'm not kidding. he was from illinois, don't they have trees there?), the neighbors offered us three, offered three to another neighbor (with a dog, who regretfully declined, because the dog would have terrorized the hens), and got rid of the rest. since they started with ten, the neighborhood as a whole was only down 4 chickens in the end. but mostly because the guy was an ass. and because the chickens were fine. i mean, they were just being chickens. it was nothing compared with that asshats' constant spousal abuse, which we all had to witness. given my choice, i'll take the chickens over a bible-beating control freak any day.

and hey - neko080? even if you don't have chickens? you still smell. bad smells come from your house and cross air we all share. your dogs smell, or the cat shit your felines deposit under our shrubs smells. or your dryer sheets smell, like a combination of Old Lady and Old Spice but on steroids, and it makes me sneeze myself an aneurysm. or your nasty-ass noodle chicken dinner microwaved in its plastic cocoon smells. we all live with bad smells, it's a city. bad smells in the country are usually from toxic pesticide shit or paper pulp mills, you stupid fuck, not from animals. and sadly, that's not regulated for shit, either. but at least the chickens aren't poisoning your air, soil and water. grow up. they're only birds. and the eggs? are refreshingly salmonella-free. you should try them sometime.
15
hey neko080, i don't remember being consulted when neighbors i didn't like moved in, got dogs, or had kids. all of which create at least as much trouble as you claim chickens do.

here's a newsflash: their neighbors, not subordinates. they don't owe you a consultation on private matters like what animals they own. if you were cutting a tree down on the property line, sure, a neighborly chat would be called for. but you assume a rather inflated idea of how much say neighbors should have in each other's lives.

you grew up in the 'burbs, right? THIS AIN'T THE BURBS, HONEY. you're gonna know what your neighbors are doing, much more so than if you're separated in 5-acre parcels. and you are going to learn how to use a white-noise machine and/or earplugs if you live in the noisy, bad city and you're soooo sensitive you can't sleep during the day! which is unusual and weird just like working nights and which you didn't consult the neighbors about before you got that job! HOW. RUDE.

tri-met makes more noise than chickens. and at just as late/early hours. buslines, though! they're so city! just what you moved here for. so ignore it, just like you ignore the roaring of buses and garbage trucks and shut the hey up already.
16
Nobody wants to listen to a bunch of fucking chickens. If you want chickens, move to the country. In the city we want to listen to dogs barking, cars, yelling drunk people, the occassional gun shot, fireworks, that kind of stuff. Not goddamn chickens. So if you lived in my neighborhood, I wouldn't have called the city, I'd be having your foul for dinner.
17
Do any children play in the same area as the chickens? Not just your yard, but also your neighbor's yard with the juicy bugs? Do your chickens ever come near your car, your bike, your mailbox, your clothes. Do you keep stray animals (dogs, cats, birds, bugs, frogs, etc.) out of your yard and any place that your chickens frequent? Do you shower and change your clothes every time you leave your house?

We need the answers to those questions since your chickens are free to go where they please. Chicken feces is known to cause many illnesses.

Professional chicken ranchers wash their eggs before they put them in the carton. They do it because chicken fecal matter can cause severe illness.

Go to the country. All of the farmers will tell you stories about stupid city people who move to the country and then complain about the smell from the animals, the noise from the tractors, combines and harvesters, and the free livestock. We city people have similar stories about country people who bring livestock to the city and don't understand the trouble they cause.

I came from farm stock, and I want a farm where I can have have a few head of this and that. But not in the city.

In general, farm animals don't belong in the city. In particular, chickens and their fecal matter don't belong near any populated area, whether a city or not. They crap everywhere.

Country people know that raw, untreated fertilizer is full of bacteria and disease. They treat it with caution.

To sum it up, you shouldn't crap where you live, and neither should chickens.

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