Monique Watts’ relocated city chickens are doing well, as evidenced by this video (below) sent by their “foster mother,” Bridgette Tojek, in Fillmore, NY.
The big news for Watts is that the Buffalo Common Council is going to hold a legislative session this coming Tuesday, June 30th, where the question of zoning and ordinances for urban chickens will be raised. Watts would like to get as many people to the 2PM session as she can and, to be fair, she says she’d like to hear from those on both sides of the fence.
“They scheduled this meeting separate from the regular meeting at a time when they thought more councilmembers would be likely to come, but it may mean less of the public will attend,” Watts said. She said that her own councilman, David Rivera, has been a great help and that she has advocates in the City Attorney’s office also. Still, Watts has concerns.
“The goal is that this will go to vote at the July 23rd meeting,” Watts explained, “and if it doesn’t pass then, we’ll wait another year.” Another year, as it turns out is around a 7th of a back yard hen’s life span, so Watts is hoping that the legal draft they have worked up is complete in its scope.
“We have this written up so that it pertains to individual owners, though Diane Picard of [the Massachusetts Avenue Project] has helped us with our plans and would like for MAP to be able to grow hens also for egg production. What we have doesn’t allow for the selling of eggs.”
There has been much interest in keeping urban chickens since Watts’ birds were in the news, and she says she’s been contacted by a lot of people who would follow her lead if an ordinance were passed allowing for back yard hens.
Watts and her husband, Blair Woods, took a trip to Fillmore last Sunday to visit the chickens. It is her hope that she’ll be doing the same in her back yard in the near future.