Change You Can Believe In

Many of you have probably seen the photos of the new additions to our family on Facebook. What you may not know is how we got them.

Somehow Rob and I got this bright idea that we wanted to raise a small flock of chickens. Having never shied away from acquiring new animals, this seemed like a logical idea. We began researching various types of chicken coops online and eventually purchased a set of chicken coop plans. Well into building our chicken coop, word quickly spread around the neighborhood that the Colemans were getting chickens. Most reactions were neutral while others just thought we were plain crazy. We also found out that there were covenants in the neighborhood that stated that farm animals could not be kept on the property. (Side note: We have lived in this neighborhood for nearly 4 years and this was the first time we found out there were community covenants. Lame!) We were also warned about a particular neighbor who was deemed the unofficial covenant enforcer. Not surprisingly the covenant enforcer called me an politely informed me of the rule that stated we could not have chickens. I asked if his complaint was about the chickens themselves or about following the rules. He clearly stated that it was about following the rules for fear that if one neighbor breaks the rules then the whole neighborhood would fall into ruins.

So, we finally got our hands on a copy of the community covenants and found out that if 66% of the property owners signed a petition to amend the covenants, then new rules could be put in place. So right away, before gossip started at church the next day, we drafted an amendment to the covenants that would allow home owners to have three hens (no roosters) on their property (chickens are already allowed in Rexburg). We spend the day pounding the pavement (with the help of our neighbors, the Piggots) gathering signatures that would allow the keeping of chickens. Of all the neighbors we got in touch with, 90% signed the petition. All in all, 77% of all homeowners in the neighborhood signed the petition. Woo hoo!

I am not the type of person to engage in controversy, but I did learn that when I believe in something, even chickens, that I am willing to step out of my comfort zone to help create the change that I believe in. We now have a fully built chicken coop, 4 little chickens, and the support of our community.
(PS Why 4 chickens when the covenants state that we can only have 3? In their infancy, it is likely that not all chickens will survive. Also, the industry standard for correctly sexing chicks is around 90%. There is a high likelihood that one of our four chicks will be a rooster, which we will deal with accordingly if that happens.)