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Chickens scratched; But 4th-grade pupils will return
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · December 14, 2017
An urban chickens proposal failed 3-2 in a second reading before the West Branch City Council last week, yet the teacher and pupils behind the idea plan to return.
Hoover Elementary fourth-grade teacher Blake Shultice said the pupils learned a lot from the process, especially when they saw the Animal Control Commission approve the proposed ordinance with no dissent, and then saw the council debate the idea prior to a split vote.
Council members Colton Miller, Tim Shields and Brian Pierce voted against the idea of allowing residents to keep up to five chickens on their property, while council members Mary Beth Stevenson and Jordan Ellyson favored the proposal.
Shultice said the council members on both sides articulated their thoughts and debated with “respectful dialogue.”
Only two pupils attended the final vote, yet Shultice said he will tell the rest of the children that “we choose the people who represent us,” and that the council members, in this case, had constituents who disagreed.
Asked if he would try again, Shultice said yes, “but maybe not chickens.”
He noted that New York has a state snack, so there are other ideas the fourth graders could take up.
“I liked how the process made it real for the class,” the teacher said.
Shields expressed the most concerns and asked the most questions, and Shultice said it appeared Shields “honestly tried” to represent both sides, even if he could only vote one way.
Shields said most of the residents who contacted him opposed the idea, concerned about smell and attracting foxes or coyotes that may harm family pets.
The council member said his research taught him that chickens only lay eggs for two or three years, and he asked what would happen to the chickens after that since the ordinance did not allow slaughtering them.
Shultice, after thanking the council for bringing the issue back for a second consideration, said he “tried to play devil’s advocate” and ask himself tough questions to prepare. He said he found that in Los Angeles, many chickens end up at animal shelters.
In Seattle, he once house-sat for a family who kept chickens and noticed rats in the yard, too. Shultice said he thinks the rats may have already lived in the area, yet the presence of chickens “may have exacerbated the problem.”
He said Seattle, despite its size, only reports about 20 to 30 abandoned chickens per year.
In West Branch, he perceives foxes as the biggest similar problem.
Shields noted that the West Branch ordinance requires tagging chickens, which would make it easier to find owners.
He said another problem is that chickens “stink,” and wondered if the smell is bad enough to bother neighbors.
Stevenson said it would not if owners follow the rule about keeping the chickens and the yard clean.
“It has to be kept clean,” she said.
Mary Gillenwater of East Main Street is the one resident who has been grandfathered into the current ordinance disallowing chickens. She attended the Dec. 4 meeting and said she keeps 15 chickens on 10 acres, and “they do not stink.”
“The manure is safer than a dog’s or cat’s,” she said. “And it can go in the compost heap.”
Chickens eat bugs, Gillenwater said, and she does not have a problem with mice or rats or skunks. She once found a fox in her barn, but it did not get to the chickens; however, one time a dog did kill some of her chickens.
“Five chickens is nothing,” she said. “It’s not like a giant confinement center. It would be a great project for a 4-H kid, and you can’t get rabies from a chicken.”
Just like with cats and dogs, “you’re going to have bad pet owners,” she said.
Shields said that of all the residents who contacted him in favor of the ordinance, only two or three said they might get chickens.
“Since when do we write an ordinance for two or three people?” he said.
Stevenson said she had she had been contacted by a couple of residents who plan to get chickens if the ordinance passes.
Pierce said allowing chickens would “create work for the city staff.”
Miller said he wonders what happens to the “yard waste,” like combinations of straw for bedding and chicken droppings.
“If this city has a weak point, it’s nuisance abatement,” he said.
Ellyson argued that the cost of setting up a yard to handle chickens and paying the city fees included in the ordinance would only be assumed by people serious about caring for chickens.
“It’s not easy to get approved,” she said.
Shields said that if raising chickens is a “great teaching tool,” he would “love to see the school do it.”
He commended the fourth-grade class for proposing the ordinance, even though it did not pass the council.
“That’s another great lesson — you don’t always get what you want,” Shields said. “We need to think about the city, not just the individual.”
Right before the vote, Stevenson appealed to the opposition to consider the unanimous support from the Animal Control Commission.
“They are our experts, and they didn’t see an issue,” she said.
Mayor Roger Laughlin agreed.
“They unanimously passed it on to us,” he said.
After the 3-2 vote against, the mayor said, “no more chicken dance.”
Stevenson thanked the Animal Control Commission for its time researching the proposal and for the fourth-grade taking the time and effort to bring it to the city. Shields agreed.
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