Prairie City considers allowing ‘urban chickens’ in backyard coops

Christina and Aaron Dowdell moved from their Marshalltown acreage to the north Dallas suburb of McKinney, Texas about 1.5 years ago, and thanks to city regulations, they took their free-range chickens along for the ride. A 2003 PCM graduate and Prairie City native, Christina (Nolin) Dowdell was happy to hear her hometown is also considering letting residents keep chickens within city limits.

“There are a lot of reasons why we like our chickens. One reason, they are low maintenance for us. We have four kids and our 3 year old can feed them,” Dowdell said. “Chickens aren’t going to harm anyone. If the chickens get out it’s something you could work out with your neighbor.”

The Dowdells built an open coop for their hens from old wooden pallets and topped it with a steel roof. Inside, there are two hen boxes for the chickens to roost at night. McKinney allows up 12 hens in an urban residential setting, and, in accordance with city ordinance, Christina and Aaron’s chickens are free range, roaming around their 15-by-30 foot backyard during daylight hours.

The Prairie City City Council tabled a change to the town’s prohibited animals ordinance last week which would allow homeowners to keep up to six hens within the corporate city limits. The proposed change was brought to the council by Prairie City resident Beth James who hopes to keep the birds for fresh eggs and a pet alternative for her young child.

According to Christian Dowdell, chickens not only help mitigate bugs in the summer and fertilize their yard, but free-range eggs have also been found to contain nearly six times the vitamin B as store-bought eggs produced in mass confinement. It’s these health benefits that James told Prairie City leaders she hopes to gain if the ordinance ultimately passes.

If passed, the Prairie City ordinance changes would restrict roosters but allow hens. The birds would be required to be kept in a pen at all times and secured in a coop during non-daylight hours. Coop and pen construction would be regulated by the city, built with “sturdy materials and kept well maintained.” The pens would be made of wire fencing “customarily designed for and used to enclose chickens.”

During discussion at the March 7 regular city council meeting, councilman Lyle Burkett suggested drafting a community survey before the ordinance is approved to gauge interest or opposition to keeping chickens.

At least one resident is opposed to allowing the animals in Prairie City backyards. Melvin McReynolds said in February he’s afraid allowing chickens could be a slippery slope.

“Why are we bringing the farm to town again?” McReynolds said. “If we’re going to now allow chickens in town I don’t want the dumb things living next to me, I can guarantee you that. Are we going to allow pigs, goats and cows next? They’re no different than a chicken.”

Mayor Chad Alleger said McReynolds is the first resident, thus far, who has voiced opposition to urban chickens.

City administrator Manny Toribio drafted the ordinance base on a similar measure considered by the City of Carlisle last year. At the February council meeting Toribio said the most restrictive urban chicken ordinance in central Iowa is in Des Moines, which only allows two hens per household. Cities the size of Prairie City allow an average of six birds per yard.

One of those communities is the City of Vinton. Chris Ward is the city administrator of the town of 5,200 residents. He drafted Vinton’s urban chicken ordinance, which has been in effect for more than a year and is based on rules approved by the North Liberty City Council.

Vinton’s ordinance restricts roosters like the Prairie City proposal and requires all chickens to be registered and tagged. Ward said there were only two residents who voiced concern during the debate, and there has only been one incident documented by police of a chicken escaping a fenced yard. That individual was issued a warning.

“At first we even kind of chuckled, but then we noticed other cities around here where doing it and realized this is a serious thing,” Ward said. “People still want to have the ability to raise their own food and possibly have non-modified or genetic eggs. This gives people that opportunity.”

Coops and pens in Prairie City would also be limited to backyards with a minimum 10 feet distance to all property lines. Owners would not be allowed to breed, produce eggs or fertilizer for commercial use and would not be allowed to slaughter chickens. All coops would have to be cleaned at least once per month.

James did take issue with one of the restrictions in the ordinance which would require her or any resident wanting to keep chickens to seek permission from all abutting property owners.

“One of the reasons that (the ordinance) sits off kilter with me currently, is my neighbor has two vicious breed dogs that have already shown aggression toward my child. So we’re paying a lot of money to put up a privacy fence to keep my child safe. I’m fairly certain that chickens may be annoying to some of you, but it’s not a danger issue,” she said during a March 7 council meeting. “So if my neighbor doesn’t have to get my permission to purchase a vicious breed pet, then why do I have to get their permission to get a different type of pet in my backyard that will be completely enclosed?”

Police chief Joe Bartello said there is some precedent to require a neighbor’s permission to keep the animals, citing a provision mandating residents get approval to keep more than the allowed number of dogs.

Contact Mike Mendenhall at mmendenhall@myprairiecitynews.com