As many cities and towns debate whether to allow keeping of chickens, a council meeting turns fowl

Local debates over whether to repeal ordinances banning chickens and other small animals in residential areas are occuring all over the country, as Nick Timiraos of The Wall Street Journal reported recently, but we doubt they have reached the level seen last week at the city council meeting in Bardstown, Ky., where one citizen brought one of his birds and asked council members to pet it.

"Cissell asked City Council to give him a license or special permit, but Mayor Dick Heaton said even if the councilmen voted to do so, chickens still would not be allowed on Cissell’s property because it is not zoned agricultural," Stephanie Hornback reported in The Kentucky Standard. (Photo from video by Standard's PLG-TV)

Cissell told the council he has had chickens since he moved to his current residence eight years ago, and no one complained about them until now, Hornback wrpte. "Cissell said he doesn’t know who complained, and he had signatures from all of his neighbors saying they were OK with the chickens. The neighbors understand the value of having the birds in the neighborhood because they eat ticks and other insects, Cissell said, adding that some neighbors even ask him to let the chickens into their yards for pest control. Cissell also eats the eggs from his nine hens, and when their offspring reach a certain age, he has them processed for meat. He doesn’t like eating store-bought eggs or chicken."

After Cissell spoke for about 20 minutes, Heaton said he "had made his point, but the laws of the city had to be upheld," Hornback reported. "Cissell was determined to not give up. 'Would you all like to rub little Charlie?' he said, taking the chicken around to the City Council members. Some stifled chuckles, and no one took him up on the offer." But after Cissell said others in the town of 11,000 kept chickens, Heaton no action would be taken against him while his claim is checked out. Council members "also want to hear feedback from the community on the ordinance" banning chickens and other livestock, which was enacted in 1950, the Standard reports.