sandiegopets

 I came across this piece today in the San Diego Weekly Reader about keeping chickens as pets. The Imperial Beach City Council passed an ordinance to allow residents to keep up to five chickens as pets. Apparently, chickens can be kept legally throughout most of San Diego, with the exception of Coronado.

I say good for the chickens!

But it brings up the question, if a chicken is a pet, can you still get eggs from her? I would assume it means you don’t eat them, although I’m not opposed to raising animals for food. It’s healthier and with rising food prices, maybe more economical. But it’s hard to eat an animal if you have an emotional attachment which you probably do if you have a pet chicken. In fact, it occurs to me, in a blog, about pets, that some people might be seriously opposed to this topic altogether.

I digress. So what does one do with a pet chicken? They’re messy birds so I would hope they’d live outdoors. But chickens are entertaining. When I lived in the country, I loved watching the chickens. We raised them for eggs, not for pets, but they were a great way to pass the time. Better than television. Better than cleaning house.

I’m not opposed to chickens in San Diego. But I don’t know if I could ever see them as pets. I think of chickens as livestock, as food products. No disrespect to the chickens. It’s a matter of conditioning.

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