I had a captive audience ...

An AT&T service person was in our cul-de-sac today while I was outside working in the front yard. At one point he had to access a housing unit that sits on my property. I took this opportunity to strike up a conversations about hen ownership. Being he was a captive audience, I knew he had to listen until he completed his task. We all know that takes longer than anticipated. I was not worried for I can talk about hens all day long.

Turns out he was willing to listen, and we quickly were engaged in conversation. I asked him several questions. My objective was not to persuade him, rather, just to gain insight into how people in our community really feel about hen ownership. Here are a few take aways from that conversation:

• Turns out he likes animals and adopted a pet dog from a shelter awhile back.

• He thought owning hens was legal because he knows people that already own them.

• It does not bother him if people own hens.

• He believed that people should be able to have rights on their own property as long as it does harm others.

• He does not plan on owing a hen, but he did say he would be open to it as a possibly.

There is a lot in this serendipitous conversation if one was to unpack it through the lens of working toward getting a city ordinance passed that allows for hen ownership. The 2013 Majority Report states " ... the practice of keeping chickens in residential areas is not considered appropriate or acceptable by most."

Later that day I was back in the front yard enjoying the beautiful evening when a neighbor several homes down saw me as he was returning from an errand and drove down to chat. As I usually do, I maneuvered the conversation to backyard hens. Again, I just wanted to get a pulse on how others feel about this topic. Guess what happened? We had a wonderful conversation. Turns out he had chickens when he was younger. I could tell he was reflecting with joy when he shared about them. I knew he currently does not own hens so I asked him if he ever thinks about getting some. Right away he responded "Yes." He goes on to say that he thinks when he retires he might get a couple. I informed him that they are currently illegal. With some confidence he told me that I was incorrect. "It is legal to own a couple of hens." We ended the conversation talking about why it is important NOW to get involved with the City of Bakersfield Backyard Chicken Initiative. I hope that he is able to get his retirement hens someday.