Update 7/8/2012
The backyard chicken policy is currently working it’s way through city staff and will be coming to the boards and commissions in the next month or two.
Updated 6/7/12
At last night’s city council meeting, a duo of Shakopee High School seniors from the Environmental Ethics class brought up a very interesting idea for Shakopee: Backyard Chickens.
I applaud the students and their teachers – Mr. Ed Loiselle and Mr. Billy Koenig – for their hard work and bringing this to council. Their proposal is to limit to 3 hens (no roosters for morning wakeup calls), get a permit, neighbor consent, no egg sales and keep them clean so it doesn’t smell. The benefits being fresh eggs for healthy food, responsibility for kids, teaching values of agriculture and having fertilizer for your garden.
It is working well in Burnsville, Minneapolis, St Paul and other cities that currently allow chickens. Golden Valley is looking into it and Mankato killed their push because of a strict neighbor consent provision. I grew up on a farm in Northwest Iowa with chickens, hogs, cattle, sheep, turkeys, dogs, cats and everything that comes with it. A lot of communities have struggled with urban chickens, but I haven’t seen any real-world, logical data saying chickens would cause any more problems than dogs or cats.
Update: Spent a little time today calling other cities who currently allow backyard chickens. Minneapolis was extremely helpful.
Last year they gave out 147 permits and are seeing considerable growth in the popular program this year. They implement it in an interesting way and have for over 20 years. Minneapolis surveys 80% of the properties within 100′ of the requested permit for their approval of as many hens and/or roosters as the permit is requesting. She can remember only a few that were turned down by the neighbors and has never received word of any sickness or health issues related to the birds. The only problems she receives are with roosters crowing.
Given Shakopee’s history as a rural community, I think it would be great to explore bringing more agriculture within the city limits through community gardens, backyard chickens and other avenues. What do you think?
Brad
There are already many back yard chickens in this town. If they have not registered as a problem yet I think you have your answer. No problem with hens in the town’s backyards. As long as they are kept healthy, fed good food, and their litter is handled in a timely hygienic way even salmonella is not a risk to the public. Lose chickens would be subject to the same laws as cats and dogs except the chickens do not need rabies vaccinations.
Thank you, Ron!
It’s an interesting idea and I’m not strictly opposed but I do have some concerns. Right now Shakopee does not have a limit on dogs, you can have as many as you want as long as you are not running a boarding business. There are dogs and cats running all over our neighborhood, with uncontrolled barking at all hours. If Shakopee cannot control the dog/cat population how will they manage the chickens. I foresee some real problems with controlling the numbers and making sure people are keeping their chickens clean and healthy. Who will patrol this? Is this the way we want to spend our limited police resources?
It is in the chicken owners’s interest to keep their egg layers and chicken stew in their yard. Otherwise some one else might eat their chicken(s). Dogs and cats leash law, I agree the ordinances are not enforced especially for feral cats. Roaming dogs and cats are a public health hazard. Rabies is still around and someone could be bit. To be honest chickens could attract coyotes into town.
Thank you, Deb! You bring up a couple of very good issues.
1) Annoying pets – There shouldn’t be dogs and cats running all over a neighborhood or barking all the time. That is unacceptable. Talk to your neighbors – if you are comfortable – and if that doesn’t work, call the Shakopee Police Department at 952-233-9400 to ask for some assistance. The PD does a great job helping control situations and can escalate if needed.
2) Population – This would need to be worked out in an ordinance with what staff, the PD and council are comfortable handling.
As with any code enforcement, I believe it is up to us as residents to take responsibility and talk to our neighbors first. If that doesn’t work or someone is not comfortable, then let the PD know there is a problem. While patrolling, officers are focused on other things and not on if a dumpster has sat for too long or if weeds are too high. If we let them know there is an issue, they do a great job of handling the situation. Same would apply with chickens.
Another option could be a peer monitoring group. If there is a group who would like to have chickens, they can do annual inspections and report back to the city. I assume that people who would like to have chickens are few and far between and they would have an interest in making this successful and not a nuisance. Take a couple nights a year, drop in on the permitted coops and make sure everything is going well.
Other ideas?
I think it would be a great idea! ‘Way to go’ to the kids that brought up the subject at the council meeting.
I think this is a great idea! I want to have chickens in my backyard as I think it will be a great way to teach my kids about the responsibilities with animals. Also, fresh eggs are the best! Thanks for doing this.
Brigette Peterson
Hi, I was wondering what has happened with this idea?
It was on my plate for awhile, but didn’t have the time to get it done. There is a group of Shakopee residents working on it now to bring it through council. Shoot me an email at btabke@ci.shakopee.mn.us and I’ll get you in touch with them if you’d like.