Open Letter to my Neighbors
Dear Neighbor,
Recently, you may have heard an odd, strangled yodeling echoing around our neighborhood, and wondered what it was. The answer is, it’s our rooster, Achilles! I’ve always wanted to raise chickens, for fun and for the eggs, and this spring I decided to give it a try. I found a young farmer near the airport who sold us some hen chicks, and, lo and behold, one of them has turned out to be a rooster. It wasn’t an issue until recently, when he grew up and started to find his voice. Now, every day just before dawn, he’s started practicing his scales.
Before embarking on this project, I called Mt. Lebanon and asked about any regulations or guidelines we should be aware of, and they said they don’t have any rules regarding chickens, but to just be a good neighbor. This note is my attempt to do that. Now that it’s gotten cooler, we’ve been sleeping with our windows open, and young Achilles’ serenading sometimes wakes us up. I hope that none of you have been disturbed, but if you have been, we’d like to know about it. Hens do better when they have a rooster around, and I find Achilles’ amateur cock-a-doodle-dooing a charming touch of countryside in our suburban world, BUT I will remove him if any of you find your lives disrupted by him.
Also, I’d like to extend an invitation to all of you with (or without!) children, to come and visit the coop. I work at home, and my door is always open to visitors. The chickens are a lot of fun, very gentle and funny. If you have any leftover bits of fruit or veggies, feel free to bring them along as they love to snack.
regards,
Chris
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