Welcome to the Arlington Egg Project!
The Arlington Egg Project was launched in the Spring of 2011 by a group of residents seeking to promote community conversations about the benefits of backyard hens in Arlington, Virginia.
The ultimate objective of the Arlington Egg Project is the modification of Arlington County ordinances so residents can keep a limited number of backyard hens, while prohibiting roosters, and ensuring secure, proper, and humane enclosures for hens. Current zoning ordinance setback requirements preclude virtually all Arlington residents from keeping backyard hens.
The Arlington Egg Project wants to spread the word on how backyard hens:
* Can be a critical part of sustainable, small-scale home agriculture;
* Are good for the environment, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers, fossil fuels, and factory farming;
* Produce eggs that are both superior in taste and nutrition;
* Produce excellent fertilizer for your home garden and lawn;
* Can be raised in urban settings without negatively impacting neighbors.
Many, many major American cities currently allow hen-keeping! This includes Portland, Raleigh, Charlottesville, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Berkeley, Seattle, Madison, Baltimore, and Chicago.
Did you know that residents in Vienna, VA are happily keeping hens legally today!
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If you are interested in helping us modify Arlington County's zoning ordinance, PLEASE voice your opinion on Arlington County's new Open Arlington forum. They are currently collecting opinions from Arlington residents about urban agriculture initiatives and, specifically, backyard hens. It is vitally important that we let the County Board know that we support changing the ordinance to allow small numbers of hens to be kept by residents in Arlington.
The Urban Agriculture Task Force will be submitting their recommendations to the County Board within the next few months and it is extremely important to let them, and the County staff, know that we support hens!
_________________________________________________________
*****AEP meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Fairlington Community Center, 3308 South Stafford Street, Arlington, at 7pm. *****
NEWS AND UPDATES:
Also, if you have not already done so, please sign our petition!
The ultimate objective of the Arlington Egg Project is the modification of Arlington County ordinances so residents can keep a limited number of backyard hens, while prohibiting roosters, and ensuring secure, proper, and humane enclosures for hens. Current zoning ordinance setback requirements preclude virtually all Arlington residents from keeping backyard hens.
The Arlington Egg Project wants to spread the word on how backyard hens:
* Can be a critical part of sustainable, small-scale home agriculture;
* Are good for the environment, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers, fossil fuels, and factory farming;
* Produce eggs that are both superior in taste and nutrition;
* Produce excellent fertilizer for your home garden and lawn;
* Can be raised in urban settings without negatively impacting neighbors.
Many, many major American cities currently allow hen-keeping! This includes Portland, Raleigh, Charlottesville, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, Berkeley, Seattle, Madison, Baltimore, and Chicago.
Did you know that residents in Vienna, VA are happily keeping hens legally today!
_______________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in helping us modify Arlington County's zoning ordinance, PLEASE voice your opinion on Arlington County's new Open Arlington forum. They are currently collecting opinions from Arlington residents about urban agriculture initiatives and, specifically, backyard hens. It is vitally important that we let the County Board know that we support changing the ordinance to allow small numbers of hens to be kept by residents in Arlington.
The Urban Agriculture Task Force will be submitting their recommendations to the County Board within the next few months and it is extremely important to let them, and the County staff, know that we support hens!
_________________________________________________________
*****AEP meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of each month at the Fairlington Community Center, 3308 South Stafford Street, Arlington, at 7pm. *****
NEWS AND UPDATES:
- If you missed the October 2012 AEP meeting, click here to check out the presentation by Kirsten Conrad Buhls of the Arlington Cooperative Extension on the Best Breeds for Urban Communities and Predator Control.
- Check out a 2010 survey from Depaul University, which studied more than 20 urban communities around the U.S. that have recently allowed residents to keep small numbers of hens. The focus of the survey was on how the ordinances were implemented. Respondents were asked about enforcement issues, problems associated with violations and complaints, support given by the city to chicken owners, and overall assessment of the ordinance.
- Check out the recent NY Times article about backyard hens: Straight from the Home Coop
- The Urban Agriculture Task Force is meeting on a monthly basis and is focusing on researching best practices in sustainable urban agriculture policies, including whether Arlington residents should be able to keep small numbers of backyard hens. Meetings are open to the public and meeting dates are updated on their website.
- Arlington County's Environment and Energy Conservation Commission (E2C2) submitted a formal letter of support to the Arlington County Board that endorses the Arlington Egg Project and our ultimate goal of allowing Arlington residents to keep small numbers of backyard hens!
- The Arlington Egg Project was thrilled to partner with the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse for a fun evening of comedy, film and discussion about hens and urban agriculture on February 16th at the Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse. It was a fantastic event, with more than one hundred Arlington hen-supporters in attendance! Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the cause!
Also, if you have not already done so, please sign our petition!
Show Your Support for Urban Hens!
If you are interested in getting one of the Urban Hen T-shirts that were for sale at the "I Love Hens" event in February, you are in luck! Arlington Egg Project and other fun pro-hen T-shirts in various sizes and designs are available at Point Graphic Ink's Etsy shop and you can order them online here!
Additionally, Arlington Egg Project bumper stickers are also available for just $2! This is a great way to spread the word about the Arlington Egg Project and show your support! To get an AEP bumper sticker, please send $2.00 (check or cash), plus a self-addressed (with postage) envelope to: Eddie Fendley, 5220 11th Street North, Arlington VA 22205.
Why We Want Hens
We believe allowing families to keep a small number of backyard hens fits well with the growing sustainable urban agriculture movement in our community and aligns with the traditional values of the Arlington community. Families keeping backyard hens can help protect the environment, educate children about where food comes from, reduce household food costs, increase a sense of connection to the land, and improve family nutrition by shortening the farm-to-table time of the food we eat.
Hundreds of urban and suburban communities throughout the United States (Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Portland, ME, Raleigh, NC, and Madison, WI to name a few) have changed their laws to allow their citizens to keep hens and there are many other cities - like New York, Chicago, and Baltimore - that have always allowed hens. Check out UrbanChickens.org to review the chicken laws in cities across the country.
There are many reasons why people want to raise a few hens in their backyard. In fact, there are probably too many to list here! Everyone has their own reasons, but with the price of organic eggs hitting $4.50/dozen, raising a few hens for eggs is not only rewarding and will provide you with the best tasting eggs you can imagine, but it can also save you some money.
Here are a few other benefits of raising hens in your own backyard:
-- Well-tended backyard hens are healthier than commercially farmed hens, and therefore produce eggs that are significantly healthier for human consumption. The vast majority of commercial hens are forced to eat an unnatural diet, consisting of mostly chemically produced feed that is meant to produce more eggs quickly and cheaply. Even those hens that are supposedly "free range" according to the egg carton, are not necessarily the happy free roaming hens you might imagine. According to a report by Sheila Rodriguez of Science Daily: "Most hens are packed eight or nine hens to a cage so small that hens are unable to stretch a wing...fewer than 5% of the eggs in the US that are not produced under these conditions are from hens that were not even allowed outside...'cage-free' hens are a subset of factory farmed production. Even small farms that do not raise hens under industrial production standards purchase their birds from factory-farmed hatcheries."
Unfortunately, this causes the hens to produce eggs that are less nutritious than eggs produced by chicken allowed to exercise, peck for bugs and engage in their natural behavior. Eggs from backyard hens have 25 percent more vitamin E, a third more vitamin A, 75 percent more beta carotene, and significantly more omega-3 fatty acids.
--- Eggs from backyard hens are better tasting than those purchased from groceries and supermarkets, which can be days or even weeks old. Air seeps into the naturally porous eggshell when eggs have been stored for too long, which adversely affects the taste and nutrition of the egg. In contrast, fresh eggs from backyard chicken have firmer whites and bright orange yolks, which not only taste better, but are better for you.
--- Raising backyard hens is a great tool to use when teaching children about responsibility and the origin of their food.
--- Chicken droppings convert into amazing fertilizer for gardens, which many people pay top dollar for in stores. The droppings are rich in nitrogen, which is a valuable additive to garden compost, and provide a source of cheaper, healthier, natural fertilizer for garden crops.
--- Hens are actually omnivores that will love eating your kitchen scraps and will provide natural insect control (they love ticks and mosquitos!) when hunting for their food around their enclosed run. Additionally, they can actually reduce the rodent population by catching and eating baby mice, rats, and other small rodents. By utilizing enclosed mobile hen tractors, hen keepers can rotate the hens throughout their yard, for a virtual "free-range" experience.
These are just a few advantages. There are many more benefits, but there is just not enough space to include them here. Of course, it is important to remember that all hen keepers need to keep their coop cleaned and have the chickens inspected regularly to ensure they are healthy.
Many people have become interested in growing their own food or buying food locally, and keeping egg-laying hens is part of a “locavore” movement that is expanding throughout the country. More and more communities have revised zoning ordinances to allow backyard hens. For some people, it's the next step in home gardening, enabling them to have wholesome, inexpensive eggs -- as well as great garden compost. Others are concerned about food safety, or just wish to enjoy the fascinating, fun pets that hens can be. Visit our Resources page for some of the many recent articles highlighting this trend.
Hundreds of urban and suburban communities throughout the United States (Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Portland, ME, Raleigh, NC, and Madison, WI to name a few) have changed their laws to allow their citizens to keep hens and there are many other cities - like New York, Chicago, and Baltimore - that have always allowed hens. Check out UrbanChickens.org to review the chicken laws in cities across the country.
There are many reasons why people want to raise a few hens in their backyard. In fact, there are probably too many to list here! Everyone has their own reasons, but with the price of organic eggs hitting $4.50/dozen, raising a few hens for eggs is not only rewarding and will provide you with the best tasting eggs you can imagine, but it can also save you some money.
Here are a few other benefits of raising hens in your own backyard:
-- Well-tended backyard hens are healthier than commercially farmed hens, and therefore produce eggs that are significantly healthier for human consumption. The vast majority of commercial hens are forced to eat an unnatural diet, consisting of mostly chemically produced feed that is meant to produce more eggs quickly and cheaply. Even those hens that are supposedly "free range" according to the egg carton, are not necessarily the happy free roaming hens you might imagine. According to a report by Sheila Rodriguez of Science Daily: "Most hens are packed eight or nine hens to a cage so small that hens are unable to stretch a wing...fewer than 5% of the eggs in the US that are not produced under these conditions are from hens that were not even allowed outside...'cage-free' hens are a subset of factory farmed production. Even small farms that do not raise hens under industrial production standards purchase their birds from factory-farmed hatcheries."
Unfortunately, this causes the hens to produce eggs that are less nutritious than eggs produced by chicken allowed to exercise, peck for bugs and engage in their natural behavior. Eggs from backyard hens have 25 percent more vitamin E, a third more vitamin A, 75 percent more beta carotene, and significantly more omega-3 fatty acids.
--- Eggs from backyard hens are better tasting than those purchased from groceries and supermarkets, which can be days or even weeks old. Air seeps into the naturally porous eggshell when eggs have been stored for too long, which adversely affects the taste and nutrition of the egg. In contrast, fresh eggs from backyard chicken have firmer whites and bright orange yolks, which not only taste better, but are better for you.
--- Raising backyard hens is a great tool to use when teaching children about responsibility and the origin of their food.
--- Chicken droppings convert into amazing fertilizer for gardens, which many people pay top dollar for in stores. The droppings are rich in nitrogen, which is a valuable additive to garden compost, and provide a source of cheaper, healthier, natural fertilizer for garden crops.
--- Hens are actually omnivores that will love eating your kitchen scraps and will provide natural insect control (they love ticks and mosquitos!) when hunting for their food around their enclosed run. Additionally, they can actually reduce the rodent population by catching and eating baby mice, rats, and other small rodents. By utilizing enclosed mobile hen tractors, hen keepers can rotate the hens throughout their yard, for a virtual "free-range" experience.
These are just a few advantages. There are many more benefits, but there is just not enough space to include them here. Of course, it is important to remember that all hen keepers need to keep their coop cleaned and have the chickens inspected regularly to ensure they are healthy.
Many people have become interested in growing their own food or buying food locally, and keeping egg-laying hens is part of a “locavore” movement that is expanding throughout the country. More and more communities have revised zoning ordinances to allow backyard hens. For some people, it's the next step in home gardening, enabling them to have wholesome, inexpensive eggs -- as well as great garden compost. Others are concerned about food safety, or just wish to enjoy the fascinating, fun pets that hens can be. Visit our Resources page for some of the many recent articles highlighting this trend.