The Maine state GOP lawmaker who got officially silenced by Democrats for defending girls’ high-school sports is now fighting her own party’s attempts to clamp down on chickens, she said on Thursday.
“A fellow Mainer just alerted me to LD 1655, a bill that would regulate how many chickens you can own, the space required in and out of a coop per chicken… right down to ‘a door with a latch,’” Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) told her Facebook followers. “Micromanaging much???” she asked.
“Extra dumbfounding, it’s a Republican bill. Democrats know better than to get between a Mainer and their chickens. You can’t make this chicken %$&@ up.”
Rep. Libby is best known these days – even nationally – for getting censured for writing a social-media post that identified a trans athlete who won a girls’ state pole vault competition in February.
Libby filed a lawsuit against House Democrat Speaker Ryan Fecteau to have it overturned, but Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose ruled against Libby last week.
This week, she filed an emergency appeal with the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
One might think Libby already has enough on her plate that to start defending chickens – against her own party, no less – is a fight best left for another day.
But she may be saved from herself on this one because her GOP colleagues say she’s got the chickens all wrong.
In fact, argues state House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor), his chicken bill actually favors chickens.
“If you want to raise farm animals on your property, and butcher them yourself, that’s exactly what this amendment is doing,” Faulkingham said.
Faulkingham said he sponsored the “Right to Food” amendment to actually keep towns from restricting chickens, not choking their rights. He was outspoken in support of a successful referendum question to enshrine the right in Maine’s constitution in 2020.
Multiple animal rights groups testified against the Right to Food bill earlier this year, which, according to Faulkingham, is supposed to preserve a Mainer’s right to grow or raise their own food on their property.
Both Republican legislators posted images of themselves on Facebook holding chickens in which they appeared to be saying to one another: “Bok-bok, I’m protecting your right to raise these delicious and nutritious birds on your own property.”
Hate to say it but this a local issue, the state should hot be overriding local zoning anymore than it already is. See the “in law ” apartment scheme. We have had chickens for years, still do. Get your local zoning laws changed, keep the government out.
Have these morons ever heard the term “IF IT AINT BROKE, DON’T FIX IT”????
36 chickens…. not enough to feed my famiy, we eat about 1.5 chickens a week. i like mine to free range, not be locked up all the time like the bill says..they eat all the ticks. thier rules would never work for self sustainment. ! take ur bill and get the cluck outta here, you stupid mother pluckers! this is a town ordinace gone wild!
Been raising meat chickens and layers for years. Do my own butchering. We have a food sovereignty ordinance in our small redneck town. No problems. The chicken police might not be welcomed. Just sayin.
The ONLY thing that makes sense in this bill is keeping chickens on your property, any animals you own should stay on your property. However, quick lesson Billy Bob, a rooster is required for fertile eggs and also protects the flock, and fertile eggs are needed for a continually providing flock and roosters make noise, sometimes the hens get loud when their favorite box is occupied….and the bill says ” owner will prevent noise” ….how exactly does one do this? Maybe a written request to the rooster or just yell at him, I’m sure he will comply if I ask nicely. And don’t tell me how to build my coop and run….who the hell do you think you are? HEY …Billy Bob …stop pretending like you care and stay the F out of my backyard.You politicians (most of them)complete with your bloated egos , false sense of superiority and seething self-rightousness (and may I remind you you’re public servants) , can you do something helpful for a change? I am so fed up with politicians trying to control everthing, because they think they know best..both sides do it… and it sucks. Furthermore, this is town issue. A state level law is so ridiculous, very stupid and clearly not giving a s#%& about what makes sense…just compare Beddington to Portland, or Unity to Biddeford, how the hell can you make an agricultural law applying state wide?
So I have a question, are state legislators becoming irrelevant to leading a good life in the State of Maine? Clearly they have so much time on their hands (while we’re all working to pay taxes) that they seek to control everything about our life – where you live, how you live, in what you live, what you drive, what you eat, how you sack your groceries, where your electricity comes from, the light bulbs you use….and on and on. How about we fire 50% of the state legislators, cut their pay, slash the state budget, and call it a day?
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Republicans??? WTF? Are you TRYING to give dems more power and clout?! Assh0les!
I pity whoever gets sent to hassle people about their birds. It WILL be a dangerous job in my neck of the woods. Mess with my food and die.
Hey, Fuckingham! Republicans are supposed to be AGAINST regulations? Got it?
(or else go join the Marxo-fascist democrats, dickhead….)
As an 11-year Indiana from-away “transplant,” I always thought Maine republicans were a bit too much like Indiana democrats.
Demshevik tyrants are destroying this state, and republican’ts push this crap???!!
This law will more than likely require a permit which at some point will require a license which will include a fee. This will require occasional inspections of the property. More government indirect taxes and clear overreach.
No one should be self sufficient in the new State. Is that the hidden message?
This is a joke on any Republican legislator that supports this. Even though it’s small and affects only a few, this increases the size and power of State government into people’s lives.
If this law passes I will not comply. No liberal is going to tell me how many animals I can raise on my property. Come to think of it, all my chickens have transitioned into Chickadees and there is no laws limiting the number of wild birds on my property.
Honestly, I can no longer tell the difference between the dems and the republicans in Maine. It’s truly pathetic. The way life should be my arse!
What has The Maine Wire Become The Libby Campaign Machine , SHE NEVER MISSES A CHANCE FOR THE CAMERA OR MIC, “Look at Me I am somebody “
Ridiculous bill!! Can’t believe they are serious.
The real problem is going to be when (not if) Bird Flu arrives in Maine.
It is spread by wild birds and then amongst the birds themselves.
We saw the extent of the respect they had for human rights during the Wuhan Flu Hysteria — wanna bet they exterminate everyone’s chickens?
Your government has become illegitimate through corruption, endless overreach, and made-up rules — whether it’s bogus chicken permits or payroll tax scams. Their fake authority doesn’t work unless you obey it. If they disagree, boycott them permanently — it worked for me.
Maine has long operated like a nanny-state bully, forcing hardworking people under layers of control. How long will you keep putting up with this toxic nonsense? You have a choice: stay and be a repeat victim or move out and reclaim your freedom.
I moved. I’m free. You can be too.