Residents push to own backyard hens

Billings City Councilman Ken Crouch was offered a bird's-eye view of a Billings backyard chicken coop Wednesday evening.

Magic City Hens, a nonprofit group that supports urban hen-keeping, invited city council members to "Tour d' Coop," a three-day tour of backyard chicken coops at three locations.

"We hope the tour will help educate and break down any stigmas for council members before the City Council revisits the ordinance in April," Carol Braaten said. "We want to work with the community and City Council to come up with a plan that will work for everyone."

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Crouch was the only council member who made an appearance Wednesday, but Magic City Hens organizers Melissa Zimmerman and Braaten expect a few more to show in the following days.

"I like eggs, and I like chicken," Crouch said. "As long as they are clean and quiet, I don't see them being a problem to the city."

Crouch asked the group members several questions, such as if the chickens had names and if they came when they were called. And then he asked, "When this comes up to City Council, do you have everything together that is necessary to make this agreeable?"

The group provided Crouch with a three-ring binder of nearly 45 pages of the Billings backyard initiative that outlines the proposed ordinance, myths and facts about chickens, benefits, compost information, a plan for chicken relocation if needed and more.

"Our goal is to promote responsible hen ownership and doing everything possible to not put any workload or burden on the city," Zimmerman said.

Several Montana cities — including Bozeman, Missoula, Livingston and Helena — have adopted ordinances allowing hens in residential areas.

The organization's president, T.J. Wierenga, said there seems to be a misconception that having urban chickens means a 50,000-chicken farm next door.

"Sure, packing 50,000 chickens into a few big closed sheds creates huge problems of smell and disease,Injection molding and Plastic molding supplier，" Wierenga said. "But city chickens are nothing like that. Six hens in an open-air coop in somebody's backyard doesn't create a bad smell and diseases. Compared to the average dog they will make less noise and less waste. It works in other cities. It would work here."

The organization offers classes of basic chicken husbandry and how to build chicken coops. It also offers compost and chicken relocation programs.

"That's the point behind this — people being sustainable," Wierenga said. "We've gotten to a point where people are disassociated with where their food comes from. It's all about teaching people and enabling people to provide their own food."

The group originally wrote to the City Zoning Commission, asking for its support in amending city codes to allow people to keep up to six hens on their residence. The commission, however, voted 4-0 against the proposal in June.

In November, the Billings City Council decided to table indefinitely further work on what has become known as the backyard hen initiate.

The City Council said the budgeting process could lead to layoffs in animal control, and allowing hens would mean more work for that division.

Magic City Hens members have gathered about 250 petitions to present to the City Council again in April, asking it to allow up to six hens on residential property.

Braaten said the proposed ordinance was drafted and adopted based on research the group gathered from other communities that have passed "urban chicken" ordinances.

The proposed ordinance excludes roosters and limits the number to six hens per residence. The owner must obtain a permit, and the chickens must have access to an outdoor dwelling.

People who oppose raising chickens often raise concerns about the smell, bugs and noise.

"It's about food, being local and sustainable — this is what is important," Wierenga said. "We need to educate our children and community on where their food comes from.