E-DEMOCRACY | Found chicken inspires Seward residents

One of the most entertaining threads on E-Democracy (Seward forum) last week started with this note:

Suzanne Stenson O’Brien: Our neighbor at 26th and 31st found a Red Star chicken in his yard!  Have you lost one?

And took off into puns:

Jim Mork: Funny.  City OK’s raising chickens. Now they are out wandering the neighborhood.  So little to make one giggle these days, but this did.  Good thing it wasn’t cows they approved.  It’d be like living in an Indian city.

Mike Jones: The bawk stops here. 

Bob Roscoe: Who egged this guy to make this pun?

Andrew Dahl: I think this runs afowl of the City’s chicken ordinance.

Sheldon Mains: Inquiring minds want to know: Why did this chicken cross the road?  Was it in response to the new ward boundaries???  

Bob Roscoe: Maybe the sky as not falling on the other side of the ward boundary. 

Kathryn Rosebear: I find this conversation eggsasperating.

Shelley des Islets: Goodness!  One fowl flies the coop and we’re all clucking over the state of things.  Let’s not run around like . . . well, you know. 

Rebecca Wicklund: I find it most eggsellant…   😉 

Bob Roscoe: Anyway, it’s a chance to hatch new puns.

Bob Roscoe: I hope that guy wearing a robe who found it was not a friar. 

Dave Gagne: What a plucky group of people you all are!! 

Belinda Lawrence: stop it..you are all cracking me up!

Clem Engen: Well then, the yolks on you. 

Some contributors ranged farther afield:

Kirin Loomis: I’m working in Hawaii right now, and we have plenty of wild chickens. Apparently chicken coops don’t hold up well in earthquakes, so the chickens get out and never come back.  They seem to have a pretty good life without human assistance. 

Jim Scheidt: I suppose they could if they survive, or don’t they have any natural predators in Hawaii?

Belinda Lawrence: The Florida Keys also have theirs free ranging everywhere, probably keeping the lawns and gardens a lot nicer than dogs or cats would.

Jaxi Schultz: I was wondering the same thing, especially in light of seeing a news special last night on people raising and neglecting chickens in the metro area.  They showed some that had lost their feet due to frost bite related to severe neglect, some tied out in yards without shelter and adequate food/water, etc.  We do not live in an area where chickens would survive well on their own.  They reported on the news it was largely the roosters being neglected/mistreated as when raising purely for eggs the roosters are not needed.  Jaxi <~~ worried about the chicken but enjoying the puns

 Suzanne Stenson O’Brien: BTW re: wandering animals, SF has replaced their fleet of law mowing equipment with goats an shepherds.  I think we should be able to have goats.

Commenters were also inspired to speculate on roosters and hens:

Jim Mork: On a news bit on channel 5, they talked about chickens.  What I’m wondering is do hens lay eggs with no roosters around?  I think maybe neighbors wouldn’t be thrilled if a yard had a noisy rooster.

Blaine Garrett: I don’t think it is legal to have roosters in the city – just hens. Roosters are a noise issue was you mention.

Katie Cross: It is legal to have roosters in Minneapolis.  There is a permit process for hens requiring 80% of your neighbors within 100 feet of your property lines to sign approving your chickens.  For a rooster it’s a larger percentage of neighbors and a greater distance from your property.  But really, is a rooster louder than the jets that fly overhead at all hours? Is it louder than the firetrucks from Station 7?  Or louder than ambulances headed to the hospitals across the freeway from us?  Or louder than those obnoxious cars with the booming bass that seem to idle outside my house when I’m trying to sleep?  No, a rooster is not that loud.  He is just an earlier riser that most of us on summer mornings.  I’m not getting a rooster, just trying to put it in perspective!

Jim Mork: Katie didn’t mention barking dogs.  Or robins who start up at 4am.  I suppose the countermeasures I’ve taken over the years to be shielded from noise at certain times would work with rooster noise.  But unless a property owner was focused on chicks to sell, it is questionable why they would own a rooster.

As of this writing, the fate of the original hen is still unknown:

Peter Fleck: Does anyone know if the chicken that started the pun rounds was claimed? Suzanne, anything to report? 

Suzanne Stenson O’Brien Clearly we have an unmet need for yucks in this neighborhood!  🙂 Maybe Bob and the rest of the flock need to host a comedy hour!  I haven’t heard if anyone claimed the hen – she is a Red Star and young!  The family will probably get many years of good eggs.  They already have hens, So maybe someone ‘placed’ her there as a foster family?