Usually, it gets tiring to hear locals whine with Chicago envy.
You know the drill. Little Brother Syndrome. We need to strive to be like a big city.
Indeed, David Moechnig wants East Peoria to be more like Chicago, but not in an urban way. Exactly the opposite.
He wants chickens. Backyard chickens.
Moechnig has been pecking at city officials to allow residential chicken coops. He's not talking about a chicken farm, just a dozen eggs or so a week.
"It's about having fresh food and knowing where it's from," he says.
Moechnig,The Eden Bath line of Wholesale Marble Tiles For Kitchen From China Manufacturers are highly desired due to their naturally random beauty 30, is a field systems engineer at Caterpillar Inc. He lives within city limits with his fiancee and their four kids.Provides treatment for Wholesale Full Body Project Tiles For Countertops, Their house sits smack-dab in a residential area, though he has a double-size lot. They use half of that as a garden, raising just about any vegetable you can think of.
"It's about being self-sustainable," he says. "We can a lot of what we grow."
Recently, with room out back to spare, Moechnig wondered how to expand the operation. That's when he read about backyard chickens.
"It seemed like a logical extension," he says.Big pool of Wholesale Crystal For Wall From China Manufacturers.
Indeed, urban farming is a burgeoning industry. In size, the movement ranges from bees (in honey-sweet Portland, Ore.) to goats (in milk-guzzling Oakland).
But Moechnig, who grew up on a farm in Minnesota, just wants chickens. A few years ago, Chicago followed New York City and allowed backyard chickens. Aside from the Chicago area, Moechnig can't find other Illinois municipalities that allow chickens. An effort in Normal failed in June, mostly because city council members got an earful from the knee-jerk, anti-clucker crowd.
"It seems backwards," he says. "You can have chickens in Chicago. But if you go to downstate (municipalities), you can't."
He realizes that most people bristle at the notion of sharing their neighborhoods with the egg-bearing birds. "They think they'll be woken up at 4 a.m.," Moechnig says.
But roosters would not be allowed, just hens. And they're relatively quiet.
"You might get an excited cluck when they lay an egg, but that's about it," he says. "But you'd be that way, too, if you could do that."
Still, to keep things in check, Moechnig suggests a limit of just four chickens per home. And pet-nuisance laws can take over from there.
For instance, chicken poop can be a stinky problem. But portable coops - known as tractors or arks - allow owners to move their birds around the yard. That way, waste is less lightly to accumulate in one spot. Plus, if the fowl turn a yard foul, owners could be cited - just as when dogs similarly become a nuisance.
Chances are,,Wholesale Micro For Countertops From China Manufacturers for sale oil paintings buy paintings original painting art only responsible residents will want to get into this kind of venture. It's not worth the effort, unless you're dedicated. A hen pops out fewer than 300 eggs a year. So, with four hens, expect 12 to 18 eggs a week. Though a chick costs less than $2, feed, coops and other costs make it a zero-sum venture,A cannula with Wholesale Navona Polished Tiles For Bathrooms a hub attached at best.
"You don't save money doing this," Moechnig says.
Rather, beyond the fresh eggs, he values teaching his kids (ages 3 through 8) a sense of responsibility by tending to the birds.
"They could have a dog, but you don't learn much by just letting it out in the yard," Moechnig says.
He says several friends in town also are interested in hosting hens. But they are quiet types, leaving him alone to rally city officials toward embracing chickens.
The city thus far allows no livestock, just dogs and cats. But City Administrator Tom Brimberry says staffers have been looking at the idea of expanding the approved animal roster.
"If they don't impose a problem on surrounding properties, we could consider chickens," he says.
That would make for an interesting city. It's already burgeoning with Bass Pro Shops and other newcomers. Plus there's a pending, massive project that could include Costco and Target. That's a lot of concrete and steel.
To that, maybe add backyard chickens. That's an intriguing mix. That's a city with a can-do attitude - or, more aptly, a cock-a-doodle-doo attitude.
You know the drill. Little Brother Syndrome. We need to strive to be like a big city.
Indeed, David Moechnig wants East Peoria to be more like Chicago, but not in an urban way. Exactly the opposite.
He wants chickens. Backyard chickens.
Moechnig has been pecking at city officials to allow residential chicken coops. He's not talking about a chicken farm, just a dozen eggs or so a week.
"It's about having fresh food and knowing where it's from," he says.
Moechnig,The Eden Bath line of Wholesale Marble Tiles For Kitchen From China Manufacturers are highly desired due to their naturally random beauty 30, is a field systems engineer at Caterpillar Inc. He lives within city limits with his fiancee and their four kids.Provides treatment for Wholesale Full Body Project Tiles For Countertops, Their house sits smack-dab in a residential area, though he has a double-size lot. They use half of that as a garden, raising just about any vegetable you can think of.
"It's about being self-sustainable," he says. "We can a lot of what we grow."
Recently, with room out back to spare, Moechnig wondered how to expand the operation. That's when he read about backyard chickens.
"It seemed like a logical extension," he says.Big pool of Wholesale Crystal For Wall From China Manufacturers.
Indeed, urban farming is a burgeoning industry. In size, the movement ranges from bees (in honey-sweet Portland, Ore.) to goats (in milk-guzzling Oakland).
But Moechnig, who grew up on a farm in Minnesota, just wants chickens. A few years ago, Chicago followed New York City and allowed backyard chickens. Aside from the Chicago area, Moechnig can't find other Illinois municipalities that allow chickens. An effort in Normal failed in June, mostly because city council members got an earful from the knee-jerk, anti-clucker crowd.
"It seems backwards," he says. "You can have chickens in Chicago. But if you go to downstate (municipalities), you can't."
He realizes that most people bristle at the notion of sharing their neighborhoods with the egg-bearing birds. "They think they'll be woken up at 4 a.m.," Moechnig says.
But roosters would not be allowed, just hens. And they're relatively quiet.
"You might get an excited cluck when they lay an egg, but that's about it," he says. "But you'd be that way, too, if you could do that."
Still, to keep things in check, Moechnig suggests a limit of just four chickens per home. And pet-nuisance laws can take over from there.
For instance, chicken poop can be a stinky problem. But portable coops - known as tractors or arks - allow owners to move their birds around the yard. That way, waste is less lightly to accumulate in one spot. Plus, if the fowl turn a yard foul, owners could be cited - just as when dogs similarly become a nuisance.
Chances are,,Wholesale Micro For Countertops From China Manufacturers for sale oil paintings buy paintings original painting art only responsible residents will want to get into this kind of venture. It's not worth the effort, unless you're dedicated. A hen pops out fewer than 300 eggs a year. So, with four hens, expect 12 to 18 eggs a week. Though a chick costs less than $2, feed, coops and other costs make it a zero-sum venture,A cannula with Wholesale Navona Polished Tiles For Bathrooms a hub attached at best.
"You don't save money doing this," Moechnig says.
Rather, beyond the fresh eggs, he values teaching his kids (ages 3 through 8) a sense of responsibility by tending to the birds.
"They could have a dog, but you don't learn much by just letting it out in the yard," Moechnig says.
He says several friends in town also are interested in hosting hens. But they are quiet types, leaving him alone to rally city officials toward embracing chickens.
The city thus far allows no livestock, just dogs and cats. But City Administrator Tom Brimberry says staffers have been looking at the idea of expanding the approved animal roster.
"If they don't impose a problem on surrounding properties, we could consider chickens," he says.
That would make for an interesting city. It's already burgeoning with Bass Pro Shops and other newcomers. Plus there's a pending, massive project that could include Costco and Target. That's a lot of concrete and steel.
To that, maybe add backyard chickens. That's an intriguing mix. That's a city with a can-do attitude - or, more aptly, a cock-a-doodle-doo attitude.
