TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - B.P. and Robyn Morton stepped outside their North 11th Street home on a rainy Sunday afternoon, pointing to the family’s “working pets” in the backyard.
A flock of five chickens milled about behind a white fence, which separates the animals’ coop from the rest of the property. Robyn has found herself interrupting many an outdoor chore to watch them peck at the ground.
“They’re a lot of fun to watch,” she said.
The Mortons are among Terre Haute families who have embraced backyard farming, raising chickens for healthy living and other sustainable purposes.
They aren’t the only ones benefiting from the lifestyle. When the chickens lay more eggs than the family can eat, the Morton’s give a dozen or so away to neighbors. And Robyn has taught a backyard chicken class at White Violet Center for Eco-Justice at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, where she’s associate director.
While some Indiana municipalities such as Bloomington and Indianapolis have passed ordinances allowing backyard chickens, Terre Haute’s laws aren’t so clear to the Morton’s. City code prohibits residents from selling or giving away very young fowl, but there are no specific regulations on keeping chickens in the city limits.
“Near as we can tell, it’s legally ambiguous,” B.P. said.
None of the neighbors have complained, and the couple said the chickens are quieter than most dogs. The animals also didn’t concern a code enforcement officer who once came to check about a tree on the property.
B.P. acknowledged being skeptical when Robyn started wanting to buy chickens about five years ago. The experience was a learning process. They experimented with the flock’s size, deciding eight was too many, and five was just right.
When dogs killed some of the flock early on, they set to work building a stronger fence.
After a couple years, B.P. grew to enjoy taking part in caring for the animals.
“I’m very won over by actually having done it,” B.P. said.
The upkeep is a family affair. Their 10-year-old son Ian is responsible for letting the chickens out of the coop every morning, allowing them to roam the pen during the day.
He also has to make sure they have food and water and collect the eggs.
“Owning chickens is an incredibly kid-friendly activity,” Robyn said.
Along with the eggs, the Mortons’ chickens help maintain the garden by eating bugs and other weeds. Also, the family uses the animals’ manure for compost.
That’s the kind of sustainable behavior that can grow from people raising backyard chickens, said Majel Wells, market master of the Downtown Terre Haute Farmers Market.
“It starts the conversation with other issues, other things that they could be doing to sustain our earth,” Wells said.
Another Valley resident who raises backyard chickens, Bob Wells, of West Terre Haute, said he started the practice as a way of eating more healthfully.
Wells said he was concerned about how the food he was already eating was made. By having fresh eggs every morning, quality would no longer be an issue.
“I’d know exactly what I was eating every day, and I’d know exactly where I got my eggs,” he said.
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Source: Tribune-Star, https://bit.ly/1EfHZOH
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Information from: Tribune-Star, https://www.tribstar.com
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