CHESTERTON — Victoria Dudeck wants her children to share in one of her fondest childhood memories – a hen laying an egg in the coop of her family’s Cedar Lake farm.
“I knew how it happened, but to actually see it was incredible. I’ll always remember it,” she said.
So when the Chesterton council passed an ordinance in December allowing backyard chickens, Dudeck rushed out to buy chicks.
“I’m a farm girl at heart and it’s always broken my heart that my boys don’t know how to raise farm animals. But now, at least they have this,” Dudeck said, pointing to a large box with four small chicks, only a few weeks old, that she keeps in her immaculate bathroom, awaiting the day when they grow big enough to live in a coop in her back yard.
Chesterton’s ordinance allows chickens within town limits on parcels smaller than one-half acre, but sets four as the maximum, prohibits roosters and slaughtering and the birds must be for commercial use only. The hens must be in a securely-enclosed chicken coop with a minimum of 10 square feet of space per chicken, provided feed and clean water at all times with feed stored in a secure container, and the area must meet sanitary requirements.
Chesterton Council Member Emerson DeLaney said he supported the ordinance because his constituents largely support it and as a child who was raised with chickens he recognized their value.
“There’s nothing wrong with them. Your dog makes more noise. They’re chickens. Get over it,” DeLaney said in December.
Now that it is spring, many Chesterton residents are beginning to purchase their chicks, and Chuck Roth, owner of Chesterton Feed & Garden, spoke to a small crowd about how to raise chickens. He said he, too, had begun as a child.
“I got involved in poultry at the age of 6 or 7,” he said in front of his display of feed, equipment, and a hen and rooster that crowed during the presentation to the delight of the audience.
“I was fascinated by them, raising them from a chick, which is a good experience for both children and adults. I’ve raised chickens, geese, ducks, guinea hens, turkeys, and peacocks,” said Roth, who talked about the use of incubators, bedding, coops, feed, medications, heat, maintenance, predators, and even grit for gizzards.
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“Just remember that the cute little chick you have is going to grow up, and so you’ll need space,” he said.
Laura Fox, a resident of Jackson Township, said she has raised chickens for seven years.
“Fresh eggs are wonderful. You can’t get the same quality at the store, and I know what my chickens are eating on a daily basis. They’re fascinating to watch and they have their own personalities and form their own community. My children see where our food comes from, and we’ve raised them from chicks, so they can watch their development and practice stewardship and responsibility,” Fox said.
Dudeck said her son, Hunter, 6, already has given each chick a name and plays games with them.
“Sometimes I look around and don’t see him and I know where he is. He is in there talking to them.”