Des Moines Sun

The Windsor Heights City Council discussed potentially raising the current chicken-per-yard limit in the city during a City Council Meeting on Feb. 6.

During an earlier meeting on Jan. 17, the council reflected on the current city code regarding residents keeping chickens in their yards, with the code allowing for two chickens per property. Some citizens had approached the council and asked if they could possibly raise the limit.

During the meeting, two young Windsor Heights residents spoke on the issue, mentioning their love of raising birds and the negative impact of factory farming on both chickens and the eggs that are sold in grocery stores. Calling birds a "blessing," the residents asked the council to consider raising the limit from two chickens per yard to ten.

"To summarize our conversations, ten is a reasonable number as, if the chickens are producing, they can accommodate most, if not all, families," Mayor Mike Jones said during the meeting.

The council agreed that two didn't seem like a sufficient number for the many city residents who wanted to raise their own chickens and agreed to consider raising the amount. They proposed raising the limit to six and agreed to vote on it at a later date.

During the Feb. 6 meeting, the council mentioned that they had received some concerns about the issue in the time following the January meeting and received some suggestions to adjust their definitions and restrictions. The new proposal wouldn't allow for roosters, geese, peacocks or guinea fowl, and would likely only allow chickens and ducks. The council passed the ordinance on again, setting it to face one more vote before likely being finalized in March.