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Columbus Residents Emotionally Debate Backyard Chickens

Tuesday night's Columbus City Council meeting included more than two hours of public comment on a proposed ordinance that would ban backyard chickens in residential areas.

Bill Porter helped organize the pro-chicken community by forming the Columbus Homeowners Initiative for Chicken Keeping, or CHICK. He brought together young people who raised chickens for 4-H, people like him and his wife Amber, who raise chickens for environmental sustainability, and some who kept chickens simply for companionship.

"Our goal is to set frameworks so people stay within what's considered responsible backyard chicken keeping," Porter says. "Whether that be a limit on the number of birds, prohibiting roosters from being in town to address noise...we're modeling these frameworks off of what other communities around the state have done."

Several cities and towns in Indiana have passed ordinances allowing for backyard chicken keeping in residential areas.

Bloomington passed an ordinance in 2006, allowing residents to raise up to five hens and pay an annual $25 fee.

Similarly, in 2014, Carmel amended a city ordinance to allow urban chickens in residential areas.

Although the majority of people who spoke at the hearing were in the pro-chicken camp, some Columbus residents spoke out for maintaining the current ordinance, which makes backyard chicken keeping illegal.

Nancy Trish of Columbus opposes backyard chickens. She says that the chickens can lead to health issues, particularly histoplasmosis.

"Yes they're fun, they're loving, they produce eggs," Trish says. "But there are also a lot of serious things."

Some residents testified that their chickens were more than just companions and environmentally sustainable pets. One Columbus woman says that her chickens are the best pets she's ever owned, and have helped her with her PTSD, anxiety, and depression.

15-year-old Laura Sheard says that her Asperger's makes it difficult to make friends and socialize, and she was often bullied in school.

"A couple years ago when I got chickens, I finally found my friends," she says.

Those who are against the chickens, consider themselves part of a silent majority. They say they are afraid to come forward, fearing that their neighbors will ostracize them.

Trish urged city council to consider "the other majority that may be a little more silent," compared to the more vocal pro-chicken party.

At the end of the hearing, council members applauded the public for their "compelling rationale."

They voted 6-1 to table the decision, and the next hearing will be on October 4.

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