Missoula Council Sends Chicken Ordinance Back To Committee

By Jessica Mayrer, 8-27-07

After Missoula City Council members got an earful Monday night about the benefits, and the dangers, of keeping chickens within city limits, the council ultimately sent the proposed ordinance back to committee for further tweaking. 

Missoulians by the dozens came out to talk about the chicken ordinance, which would give urbanites the option to keep as many as six hens. 

It is illegal under current ordinance to raise either hens or roosters within the city limits.  If the new ordinance were to pass it would allow only female chickens in the city and they must be fenced and housed in an enclosed coup 20-feet away from neighboring property, with food stored in a predator-proof container.

The council voted 7-5 to send the proposal back to committee with Ed Childers, Bob Jaffe, Heidi Kendall, Marlyn Marler, Jack Reidy and Stacy Rye in favor of keeping the chicken issue in the table. Dick Haines, Jon Wilkins, Jerry Ballas, Don Nicholson and John Hendrickson voted to send the the ordinance back.

Raising chickens enables low-income people to eat high-protein food cheaply, said Bonnie Buckingham from the Missoula Food Bank and the Community Food Agriculture Coalition. The coalition aims to address local food and agriculture needs.

Raising chickens is a step toward creating a “food democracy,” said Neva Hassanein, also from CFAC.  She and others pointed to the benefits of raising food locally instead of importing it from other regions.

Some supporters of the ordinance wore T-shirts that read: “I’m pro-chicken and I vote.” Several of them cited the benefits of having fowl nearby: they eat bugs and chicken manure is an excellent fertilizer.

“I don’t have hobo spiders.  I don’t even have wasps in my yard,” said Dave Durnford, chicken owner.

But others, a minority, disagreed. They cited noise, disease and pollution concerns. 

Salmonella is a real threat, and Missoula could have an outbreak of the Avian Flu, said Nikki Billingsley, who worries that her son’s asthma will be aggravated by an influx of hens into her Westside neighborhood. 

“If you allow all of this into the valley, you’re going to be on the same scale as a large chicken farm,” she said.  “At what point is Missoula going to start looking like a huge animal farm?”

“What about abandoned chickens that then go feral?” Billingsley asked.

To which Councilman Ed Childers later replied, “I believe our feral chicken problem will be solved by our feral cat problem.”

Some supporters of the ordinance acknowledged that chickens are not the cleanliest of creatures.  “Chickens are disgusting,” said Bill DeCou. 

They stink and they pollute, he said.  “Sounds a little bit like human beings.”

Raising chickens is a way to regain human kind’s connection with the land, Councilman Dave Strohmaeir said.

“Montanans pride themselves on the virtue of self-reliance,” he said.  “I think this is a good solid ordinance.”

But others on the council weren’t so sure.  The expense of enforcing the new ordinance has not been budgeted, and Councilman Jon Wilkens suggested that perhaps a chicken-licensing fee could help offset future expenses.

And Councilman Jerry Ballas wasn’t sure if the ordinance should be applied city-wide.  “One size does not fit all,” he said.

The urban fowl ordinance will be picked up again at the Public Health and Safety Committee meeting on September 5, at 8 a.m.