From: "Kaldjian, Paul J." <KALDJIAN@uwec.edu> Date: Mon, 10 May 2010 08:50:50 -0500 Subject: Today's LT on backyard chickens Message-ID: <E7DFB9C7847A6242BCF1CEDE9AC1D1E3842E120259@CHERRYCOKE.uwec.edu>
Read the article; make a phone call if you want to make a difference.
Pass on to others.
Eau Claire City Council Members (2010)
KERRY KINCAID, City Council President: 831-1013, KERRY KINCAID, City Council President: 831-1013, Kerry.Kincaid@ec-citycounc
il.com<mailto:Kerry.Kincaid@ec-citycouncil.com>
DAVID DUAX, City Council Vice President: 835-0905, DAVID DUAX, City Council Vice President: 835-0905, David.Duax@ec-citycounc
il.com<mailto:David.Duax@ec-citycouncil.com>
LARRY BALOW: 832-2946, Larry.Balow@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:<mailto:Larry.Balow@ec
-citycouncil.com>
DANA WACHS: 552-1439, Dana.Wachs@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:<mailto:Dana.Wachs@ec-ci
tycouncil.com>
MARK OLSON: 839-7512, Mark.Olson@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:<mailto:Mark.Olson@ec-ci
tycouncil.com>
JACKIE PAVELSKI: 834-5250, Jackie.Pavelski@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:Jackie
.Pavelski@ec-citycouncil.com>
THOMAS VUE: 839-7652, Thomas.Vue@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:<mailto:Thomas.Vue@ec-ci
tycouncil.com>
DAVID KLINKHAMMER: 833-8954, David.Klinkhammer@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:Da
vid.Klinkhammer@ec-citycouncil.com>
THOMAS KEMP: 858-3474, Thomas.Kemp@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:<mailto:Thomas.Kemp@ec
-citycouncil.com>
BOB VON HADEN: 834-2889, Bob.VonHaden@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:Bob.VonHade
n@ec-citycouncil.com>
ANDREW WERTHMANN: 495-2451, Andrew.Werthmann@ec-citycouncil.com<mailto:Andr
ew.Werthmann@ec-citycouncil.com>
Paul
Regional family rides wave of chicken popularity
* [http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/leadertelegram.com/conten
t/tncms/assets/editorial/5/4d/9f2/54d9f270-5bd2-11df-9890-001cc4c03286.prev
iew-300.jpg?_dc=1273454477] <http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_pag
e/article_5f93c70e-5bd2-11df-bf10-001cc4c03286.html?mode=image&photo=#1
>
Steve Kinderman Jerome Belanger, author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to R
aising Chickens," held a Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken last week at his r
ural Lublin home.
Posted: Sunday, May 9, 2010 11:00 pm
By Eric Lindquist / Leader-Telegram staff | 0 comments<http://www.leadertel
egram.com/news/front_page/article_5f93c70e-5bd2-11df-bf10-001cc4c03286.html
#user-comment-area>
Jerome Belanger admits his timing was a little off when he started a magazi
ne called Backyard Poultry in 1979.
Belanger, of rural Lublin, sold a few thousand copies but hardly any ads. T
he magazine folded two or three years later.
The story was much different when his son, Dave, and daughter-in-law, Elain
e, revived the Medford-based magazine in 2005. Today they print 100,000 cop
ies of each issue and are riding a wave of poultry popularity.
Jerome, who has owned chickens for most of his 72 years, summed up the diff
erence this way: "Chickens are hot."
And even though he missed the boom the first time around with Backyard Poul
try, Jerome still found a way to get in on the action by writing his eighth
book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Raising Chickens," published last mon
th by Penguin Group. The former Wisconsin State Journal reporter's previous
books, as well as several other magazine ventures, focused on goats, pigs
and various livestock animals.
Considering that his family is so closely connected to the backyard chicken
coop phenomenon sweeping the nation, Jerome said he has been somewhat surp
rised by the chicken-fighting going on regarding a proposed ordinance that
would make it legal for residents to raise a few hens in Eau Claire.
The City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on the proposal, which would a
llow residents to keep up to five hens in a backyard coop and require them
to get a permit from the city and to gain approval from at least half of th
eir neighbors. Owners would be prohibited from keeping roosters, selling th
e eggs and slaughtering the chickens.
Regardless of the concessions made to urban chicken skeptics, the City Coun
cil appears divided, with a few councilmen insisting some people just don't
like the idea of people raising a barnyard animal in the city.
"It's all much ado about nothing," Jerome said. "It's politicizing what sho
uld be a friendly neighbor-type deal. As long as people don't have roosters
(and thus no crowing concerns), it shouldn't be a problem at all."
Likewise, Elaine, editor of Backyard Poultry, said she learns of a new city
legalizing urban chickens about once a week but has heard of few problems.
She noted that Madison, Minneapolis, Chippewa Falls and Chicago are among
the Upper Midwestern cities that permit chickens. A chicken ordinance also
is being considered in Milwaukee.
Without roosters, noise worries should be almost nonexistant, said Elaine,
who described the little clucking that hens make as "actually a rather soot
hing sound." She and Dave raise about 20 chickens at their home in rural Wi
thee.
About the only concerns Elaine considers legitimate are that chickens could
be abandoned occasionally in college towns with a mobile population and th
at chicken feed, like all pet food, can attract rodents if it's not stored
properly.
It's clear the Belangers treat their beloved chickens like part of the fami
ly.
In fact, Elaine goes so far as to call chickens "America's cool new pet."
"They become really friendly," she said. "They'll follow you around and eve
n jump on your lap. They know where their food comes from."
Plus, she added, "People like the idea of having a pet that gives them back
food."
Jerome misses chickens after not keeping the birds for the past couple of y
ears following a bout of lung problems he blames on pigeons, his other fine
-feathered friends.
"Chickens are cheap entertainment," he clucked. "They're interesting creatu
res to have around. They're beautiful and have their own personalities. I'd
rather have a chicken than a dog."
The Belangers aren't alone in their affinity for the birds, as demonstrated
by a popular T-shirt available from the Backyard Poultry Web site that rea
ds: "Have You Hugged Your Chicken Today?"
While the Belangers don't ever expect to see a chicken in every lot, they b
elieve the trend has staying power because of the growing support for all t
hings "green," sustainability and locally produced food.
"You can't get any closer than your backyard," Elaine said.
These days people want to know where their food comes from, Jerome said, "a
nd they aren't happy when they find out their food comes from chicken conce
ntration camps or factory farms."
If people do it right - sometimes maximizing recycling efforts by feeding t
able scraps to chickens and using their manure for garden fertilizer - rais
ing chickens for the eggs can be a money-saving hobby during lean economic
times, he said.
From a less practical standpoint, he added, "There is a certain thrill to g
oing out every morning and collecting a nice, warm, clean egg that a chicke
n just laid."
Besides, Elaine added, "The taste of those fresh eggs is fantastic. Until y
ou try them, you can't imagine how much different they taste than the eggs
you get at the grocery store."
Lindquist can be reached at 715-833-9209, 800-236-7077 or Lindquist can be reached at 715-833-9209, 800-236-7077 or eric.lindquist@ec
pc.com<mailto:eric.lindquist@ecpc.com>.
On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 8:07 PM, Jeremy Gragert <jgragert@gmail.com<mailto:
jgragert@gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi All,
A local expert that you might want to contact is Jerome D. Belanger, author
of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Raising Chickens, which should be publish
ed next month. According to a recent letter-to-the-editor he wrote he lives
in Thorp, Wisconsin, just east of Chippewa Falls. I don't have his contact
information but it shouldn't be difficult to come by -- maybe one of you k
nows him!
http://www.allbookstores.com/book/9781592579860/The_Complete_Idiot_s_Guide_
to_Raising_Chickens.html
Belanger is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Self-Sufficien
t Living, published December 2009.
-- Jeremy Gragert