Some Chattanooga residents are crying foul over the city not allowing fowl in their backyards.
“Most people are taught that [chickens] are dirty and dumb, but they’re not,” said Melanie Mayo, director of education and outreach at Crabtree Farms and the chairwoman of the city’s food and agriculture action team.
CHICKEN PROVISIONSA proposed ordinance suggests the following changes to City Code to allow chickens on premises:* No rooster shall be kept on less than five acres of property.* All owners must obtain a license through McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center.* Enclosures must be in backyard; there must be a fence to obscure sight of the chickens.* No more than 15 hens are allowed per dwelling.Source: Proposed city ordinancePDF: City Ordinance
The City Council is set to discuss a proposal allowing backyard chickens during the Legal and Legislative Committee meeting Tuesday. A draft ordinance would allow up to 15 hens on premises, but no roosters.
Mayo said there are a lot of misconceptions about chickens, such as their being harmful to people because of threats of disease.
“What carries disease more than chicken poo is cat and doggy poo,” Mayo said.
She said studies have found hardly any risk associated with chickens. On the plus side, pet poultry can provide eggs and can help children learn about the food chain, she said.
Karen Walsh, executive director of the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, said the city needs to wade gingerly into the pet poultry waters.
For one thing, she said, if a chicken escapes its pen and is found wandering around, McKamey doesn’t have any place to put it. The center would have to build pens, she said.
“We don’t want it to be a burden on the taxpayer,” she said.
Councilman Peter Murphy, chairman of the Legal and Legislative Committee, said most of the people who have spoken to him seem in favor, at least for hens.
“Most of the opposition is to not have roosters,” he said, noting their habit of crowing, breeding and fighting.
Mayo said chickens can produce edible eggs even without a rooster.
“A rooster is not necessary,” she said.