Well, I Didn't Think This Day Would Come

A few years ago I remember talking to another food blogger & avid gardener at a happy hour about Arlington's ban on "farmyard" animals.  At the time, a pet dwarf goat was getting an eviction notice from the county.  The conversation naturally flowed to hens. I wondered aloud what the big deal with hens were.  I mean, they make lot less noise than a (poorly trained) dog and don't poop or pee in other people's yards.  And there's no law against poorly trained dogs in your own yard. Hens have the added benefit of creating amazing fertilizer. We figured you could probably raise rabbits for eating under the guise of pets, but both of us agreed that we weren't quite up to the task of killing a bunny ourselves.

Well, it looks like one group is trying to bring hens (not roosters!) to Arlington. My uncle has a backyard hen house back in Florida. I can vouch for the not noisy and not smelly possibility for raising laying hens. Those hens are pretty cute and didn't mind my rather grabby, not terribly gentle toddler to pet them.

Check out the Arlington Egg Project and sign the petition if you agree with them!  With any luck, hens for pets & for eggs will make their way back to this--formerly agricultural--county.