Big happenings next week!

1) We’ll be back in front of City Council at Public Session this Tues. April 16 at 1:30 pm, presenting to city council the draft of changes to the hen ordinance.

We’ll also be inviting city council members to our next big event:

2. Wed. April 17, 7 pm. Rice Green Films Series. We’re co-hosting a donation-optional film showing about urban farming, plus Hens For Houston panel afterwards. Because what’s more sustainable and urban farming than keeping hens?
There will be free food, a free film, and excellent panel. The movie is called Urban Roots about urban farming and renewal in Detroit. We hope to see city officials there so come out and show your support!
6:30 pm – Doors open + free food + meet-a-chicken activities with Chickadoo-Suz
7 pm – Movie starts
8:30 pm – Panel begins
(Panelists include HFH leadership, BARC representative, urban hen owners, and of course a CHICKEN )
The cinema is on the right just inside Gate 8 of Rice University off of Stockton and University. We look forward to seeing you there!

3) Our next meeting is Sunday April 21, 2-4 pm at Quality Feed on 4428 N Main. Don’t Miss IT! Should be lots of fun

Hope to see you at the film on Wednesday!

Next meeting will be Sunday April 21, 2-4 pm. We’ve made a lot of progress with the city, and we’ll be talking all about it! Location TBA.

Media coverage

Most recently, we’ve had stories about us on Channel 2 and in the neighborhood newspaper the Leader. This year we’ve also appeared in SwampLot, Houston Press, and CultureMap. Kyrie O’Connor continued Houston Chronicles vocal support of urban hens as well.

Upcoming Events:

April 6, 10 am – 2 pm. We’ll be at the Arboretum helping them celebrate Earth Day… with hens! Come visit with us at this free, family event: http://www.houstonarboretum.org/event/earth-day-free-family-event

Other events:

March 29 – An Easter Egg hunt for real eggs, plus arts and crafts projects? Located just outside Houston! What fun! Ring in Easter with MyChickenDiaries as they host two easter egg hunts this Friday! See the left column of http://www.mychickendiaries.com/kids.html

March 30 – Galveston coop tour! Check out our neighbor’s inaugural tour-de-coops. Not only can you take notes for your own coop, proceeds benefit the Seawall Interpretive Trail beautification project. Details at: http://www.ibcgalveston.com/blog/2013/02/hold-on-to-your-hens/

Updates:

1. HUGE THANK YOU to all who filled out our BARC survey…  we were very impressed by the quantity and quality of feedback (almost 100 responses, wow!). Your feedback allows us to be better able to represent your interests, and continue pushing the core hen issues with the City.

2. We’ve had two meetings with BARC and the city lawyer, and anticipate at least one more meeting before a draft is released to stakeholder groups and for public comment. Soon we’ll need your help emailing council members; things will be heating up in March, so stay tuned!

3. Good meeting last Sunday… one result of which we’d like your help to beef up our website’s “Resources” page for the hen owning Houstonian. Send us your favorite source of information for chickens and we’ll add it to the website!

4. Thanks to the Houston Food Policy Workgroup for inviting us to speak last Wednesday. We appreciate your encouragement and suggestions!

Upcoming:

1. Sunday March 10, 2 – 4 pm: Next meeting! Location TBA

2. Saturday April 6, 10 am  – 2 pm: Earth Day at the Houston Arboretum. Come help us celebrate both Earth Day and our unofficial one-year anniversery. Want to volunteer for a 2 hr shift? Hang out with baby chicks and really neat people? Let us know!

Don’t forget to pick up your limited-edition Hens for Houston T-shirt at Quality Feed or delivered to your door thanks to MyChickenDiaries:
http://www.mychickendiaries.com/catalog_c21934.html

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hens for Houston

THANK YOU and HAPPY SUPER BOWL!!! — Hens for Houston

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8955438

Following our 3 min presentation, council commented for 20+ minutes on the topic. Mayor Annise Parker said she’d cast her vote in support of urban hens, and we have favorable reception from a number of other officials.

We will be meeting with BARC next week to discuss their draft proposal… we hope that we can find common ground and it can move on to other stakeholder groups for review, and be in front of Council for discussion again by March!

A big thanks to all of our volunteers and supporters who have been integral in getting us to where we are today! Thank you!

The Houston Chronicle today published an editorial supporting urban chickens!

http://www.chron.com/default/article/Dealing-with-the-urban-chicken-4187449.php

We greatly appreciate the support of the Chronicle as we move one step closer to realizing our goal, and join the ranks of other Texas metropolitan areas that allow chickens.

H4H will be in public session next Tuesday to speak directly about our proposal, which can also be downloaded as a pdf:

1) Eliminate the distance constraint which requires coops and chickens to observe a certain setback from neighboring residences. According to Houston’s Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care (BARC), the vast majority of chicken complaints fall under the general animal ordinances regarding noise, sanitation, and roaming-at-large. Violations of only the distance requirement do not generate complaints.  Bellaire and San Antonio are two other Texas cities which successfully regulate chickens with just the general animal ordinance, without stipulating a setback.

2) Protect the rights of neighbors by punishing violations of the chicken ordinance to the same degree as violations by cats and dogs. It is important to respect the rights of those who wish to own chickens, and those who do not. The ordiance must be structured to dissuade disturbances to neighbors from chickens, just as there are structures to dissuade disturbances from other animals.

3) Recognize chicken waste as a valuable fertilizer. The current ordinance effectively prohibits the composting of chicken waste, a high-value organic fertilizer sold at garden stores across Houston. In comparision, the high levels of pathogens in cat and dog waste make it unfit for fertilizer.

Don’t forget to share the petition with your friends!

Read the article on the chron.com website!

Upcoming: We’ll be at the public session of Houston City Council on Tuesday 1/15 to speak briefly (~5 min) and directly to city council about the importance of allowing chickens. This is the first of what will be regular appearances by our group at city council. The meeting will open at 1:30, public speaking begins at 2pm and ends at 5pm. If you’d like to take the afternoon to join us, we’ll be at COUNCIL CHAMBER – SECOND FLOOR – CITY HALL. 901 BAGBY – HOUSTON, TEXAS.

Also: Our next group meeting will be Sunday, February 9, from 2-4pm in the Medical Center/Rice University area. Join our mailing list, and we’ll send specific location details soon. We will be giving updates on the ordinance change, the public session results, and organizing events.

Saturday Sept 29, 10-4pm. Hens for Houston will be volunteering with My Chicken Diaries for the BIG Event, celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts. Because we too “B”elieve “I”n “G”irls!

We will have a table, petitions, T-shirts and the company of the one and only Chickadoo Sue and her real-life feathered friends… it will be a blast!

If you’re in the scouts, look for our booth with My Chicken Diaries! Hooray for empowered women!

Saturday Oct. 6, 10-3 pm. Buchanan’s Fall Festival. Join us for fall weather, native plants and fun! There will be lots of kid friendly events and live music.

Saturday Oct 27, 2-5 pm.  Neighborhood Fall Festival @ Westpark & Hwy 6. Come meet and talk to Houstonians about urban chickens!

AND

TBA October evening… A screening of the light-hearted documentary, MAD CITY CHICKEN at Rice University’s Green Film Festival. Fun for the whole family!

Thanks to Rice University Environmental Club for helping organize the event!

Stay tuned for more details!

Yet another reason chickens should be exempt from Houston’s arbitrary 100 ft setback from neighboring houses!

The data from the nearest cities shows that the setback distance has no impact on the number of complaints received by the city.

By shifting our focus from the setback red herring, we can work toward an ordinance that address the real reasons for complaints: noise, sanitation, and loose pets.