County Council To Further Discuss Rules For Bird Feeding & Owning Chickens

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Volusia County, FL – In Thursday’s Volusia County Council meeting, members agreed to vote on the rules for coastal bird feeding and owning chickens in residential areas at a future meeting.

The Council heard and discussed concerns over the impact of feeding birds "human food" in Daytona Beach Shores. Bird droppings have been found to damage the area and pose potential health risks to residents and wildlife. The birds themselves have been seen as increasingly aggressive towards beachgoers. This issue was also discussed as being a threat to the health and well-being of the birds.

“White bread can be a problem,” says Michael Brothers, the manager of the Ponce Inlet Marine Science Center. “There have been studies where continuous feeding on white bread causes some abnormalities in the birds and other deformities in the birds with an improper diet.”

Many Council members did not support the idea presented to them of banning bird feeding in fear of adding more rules and restrictions that would require policing. The Council was okay with educating the public but hesitant about having pamphlets and flyers of information ending up on the beach or going unnoticed. But, adding to existing signs to warn beachgoers about the rules of feeding birds was agreeable to many of the members. The Council arranged for this issue to be decided at the next meeting.

The County Council then moved onto the issue of whether to change how many chickens a household is allowed in non-agriculturally zoned areas. Currently, ordinances allow one chicken per household in residential areas.

“My problem with it is they are a flock animal and they don't do well on their own,” said a concerned citizen at Thursday’s meeting. “I propose we allow the residence to have six.”

The Council stated their worries about how these chickens and roosters especially could bother neighbors and how enforcing the number of chickens a household has could be difficult.

The Council voted and agreed to return to the subject at a later meeting with more information to decide the number of chickens they will allow or if they will change current ordinances at all.

Photo courtesy Olesya Makusheva and Shutterstock.com.

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