BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 15, 2025
My family is standing up for the right to keep chickens and provide our family healthy protein. We hope that our challenge to our city’s ordinance will ensure that the right to food isn’t chipped away to nothing with heavy-handed rules. We started raising chickens after close friends left for another state and gave us their birds. It turned out to be a life-changing decision. Today, we keep 19 chickens and every day they give us fresh eggs and occasionally we cull a bird for meat. We’re now suing Calais. We love Calais. We didn’t rush to file a lawsuit. For months, we worked with city officials to see whether there might be a variance or exemption that would let us keep our chickens. But the answer was no. We believe the right to food is too important to leave hanging. ~ Kamiwan Oliver, Calais