LIVONIA, Mich. – Fifteen Rainbow Ranger Broilers are at the center of a tug of war between the City of Livonia and the family who was raising them on their sustainable suburban farm.
It’s not just chickens.
Christina Cosio and her partner grow most of their own food, so very little comes from the grocery store.
“You start with one seed, and you’ll start growing something, and then once you get the itch, it just keeps going, and you end up growing chickens in your front yard,” said Cosio.
Their journey to grow their own food is documented on their popular Instagram page Terra Sano Creative.
Cosio’s chickens are in the luxury version of a chicken tractor, eating special feed, grass and watered, misted, and given frozen blueberries on hot days.
On Wednesday (June 15), Livonia Animal Control confiscated the Rainbow Ranger Broilers.
“They were telling me the chickens were in poor condition, were hot, and needed immediate care,” Cosio said.
Yet they didn’t take her laying hens and rabbits, which have similar setups.
After three days of the run-around, the city’s legal department is giving her the birds back Saturday. They’ll be processed this weekend as they were scheduled to be.
It’s not over, though.
“We will still be investigated for animal cruelty, yet they’re giving the chickens back to us,” Cosio said.
