Reporter looking for Alabama chicken keepers

G'day, Donna ~

Well, although the city of Mobile, Alabama is not on your local list, you might well know about the recent trivial pursuit of its city council. From all appearances, the city of Mobile is attempting to reign in those whose hobby it is to raise chickens within the city limits. The details of this fiasco are yet to be revealed, but one reporter for the Mobile Press-Register has written a short article about this "crisis," (quotes for exaggerated emphasis). Apparently, the council members do not have enough on their agenda to occupy their local minds so they are going to pick and peck at the chickens and their owners. One relevant question they might ask themselves is, "how can we pick on the chickens when the city has yet to clean up the stray cat problem?" Sometimes it seems absolutely embarrassing the issues our city council selects, and around which it chooses to wrap its collective brain. Comic relief, anyone?

Chickens have many practical uses, one of which is to provide eggs for their owners in addition to cleaning up the backyard of certain pesky pests that are the bain of many a backyard gardener. Someone I know is an organic gardener who raises chickens that provide eggs for his family. Why shouldn't this local citizen be allowed to maintain a self-sufficient life-style so long as it does not infringe on anyone elses right to be free? Anyway, if you are interested in looking into an issue that is relatively local to your beat as a reporter, check out the article by Bill Finch that was recently written in the MPR. Let me know what you think about that, OK?

Chris

BTW ~ you might also be interested in some of the stuff the gardnener I know does to raise some of the best eggs in the county.