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Tim AndersonTim Anderson, 824 Sherry Drive, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 City Attorney, City Manager, City Clerk, Commissioners, Mr. Mayor, I am incredibly excited about the chicken ordinance up for second reading this evening, which fondly refer to as the "Equal Agriculture Rights for All Regardless of Where you Live" Act. Not because I am a chicken guy, although I love a backyard hen egg every now and again, but rather because I love Goats. You may not know this, but Goats are one of the most practical and versatile creatures out there! There is the advantage of their small size, as far as being livestock goes, and they're pretty self-reliant. But, as any experienced goat keeper will tell you, a strong fence is a must! One dairy goat can create two to four quarts of milk every day. Besides milking goats for their nutritious beverage, their milk can be used to make goat soap, butter and cheese. Angora goats and other long- haired breeds are raised for their coats. I personally shear the manes to braid and put in my hat. My kids think I have a pony tail, which, because of the strict nature of my work, isn't allowed. But it is fun to pretend. One of my favorite things about owning goats is how efficient they are at yardwork. We've used them in the past to clean up and maintain areas in a matter of weeks, which would have taken us years to do ourselves. Just think about this: goats are natures lawn mowers! Less carbon dioxide, and they fertilize as they trim. Just a note here, it's important to know, as with all other livestock, that what your goats eat will affect the taste of their milk and meat. A goat's milk is more quickly affected by diet than a cow's. So be careful. This reminds me of a story from my youth, when I was trying to dispose of a SI swimsuit issue I was afraid my mother was going to find. I fed it to my goat, his name was Gary, and I thought that was that. Little did I realize that goats sometime don't completely digest their food, so the next day we were surprised to find manure that was not only obscene in smell but also in appearance...but I digress. Goats can serve many purposes on the homestead. Grazing your goats with a green (unbroken) horse or mule is an effective way of taming them. When they observe the feeding and affection the goats receive from you every day, the horse or mule assumes you are nice. This is often the catalyst for the horse or mule to come to you for handling without any real training. I once knew an old cowboy named Blackjack Ketchum who used this method with amazing results. He pretty much ignored the unbroken animal for weeks other than feeding it. Eventually the horse or mule would come to him. I would warn, though, that when it comes time to convert your goat to meat, you don't let the horse or mule see you load the goat into the packing truck, as that tends to erode trust for some reason. I bring this up as I believe that after chicken hens and goats, horses or mules, in whichever order you decide, are the next logical farm animal to allow here in Atlantic Beach. No offense to Former Mayor Borno, but I believe pigs, or hogs as I call them, shouldn't be allowed until at least after milk cattle, but certainly before alpacas. So my preferred order of farm animal approval would be chicken hens, goats, mules or horses, in whichever order you prefer, milk cows, pigs and then alpacas. Now alpacas have a neat trait about them though: when given roam with chicken hens, they will fight off our local coyotes as they look at hens as part of their flock. So maybe we should move alpacas up the list. But this is all obviously up to you. Now logically, you are probably wondering about including beef cattle. I do not believe they should ever be allowed as our grass here in Florida, and quite frankly all grass fed beef, tastes terrible. So I guess I am being selfish with regards to beef cattle in a backyard. But actually, now that I think about it, it wouldn't be appropriate to have the new agriculture ordinance discriminate based on which farm animal citizens want, so I take back what I said about beef cattle. Well that concludes my thoughts on this topic. I have submitted a copy of my remarks to the clerk for the record, and strongly urge you to act in such a way as to allow these animals, but specifically in the following order of preference: chicken hens, goats, mules and horses, but not necessarily in that order, milk cows, pigs, alpacas and beef cattle. Thank you for tackling this important issue. I remain incredibly excited.