For the birds: Killeen council considers adopting backyard chicken ordinance

Killeen Daily Herald
By Paul Bryant | Herald Staff
February 26, 2023

Killeen residents will be allowed to keep chickens on their properties if City Council members on Tuesday adopt an ordinance regulating that type of agriculture.

“On Sept. 20, 2022, the City Council directed staff to discuss backyard chickens with the Animal Advisory Committee,” Assistant City Manager Danielle Singh said during a workshop meeting last week. “We drafted an ordinance and then on Jan. 12, we discussed it with the committee. They recommended approval with a few changes.”

Those included adding the definition of a coop.

And “it was to increase the number of hens from six to 12 and then to reduce the distance from any (neighboring) habitat structure from 50 to 25 feet,” Singh said. “And staff agrees with the changes, so the changes are incorporated in the draft.”

The ordinance allows hens — but not roosters — in the city.

“Just for clarity, we’ve said no roosters,” Councilwoman Jessica Gonzalez said. “Can we state for the record ... why we feel there is no need for roosters at this time?”

Singh said that is because “hens are rather quiet.”

“But roosters tend to make a lot of noise, and so that’s where we would expect a lot of nuisance complaints,” she said. “That is the reason we have not allowed roosters with this. And that was common across the board with all the ordinances I looked at.”

Councilman Riakos Adams asked Singh to talk more about hens.

“Apparently, hens have a community and I believe the question was asked in the committee (about) the minimum number for that community of whatever it’s called of hens,” he said.

Singh said much of the discussion about the chicken ordinance involved hens.

“As the hens age and no longer lay eggs, you could essentially have a new group of chickens come in and have those both together, so that was part of it,” she said. “As they age out of laying, you could replace them with additional chickens. I looked at a lot of ordinances while drafting this, and I will say most of them range from six to eight (in the allowed number). I believe the most that I saw other than that was maybe 10.”

Public comments

During the public-comment period of last week’s meeting, Killeen resident Marcella Cook said the chicken ordinance is too generous.

“I was a chicken farmer in East Texas,” she said. “Twenty-five chickens ... is way too much for a small backyard. Not only that, but it’s not allowing roosters, and for a small flock of chickens, I think five would be the maximum without a rooster.”

That’s because roosters play an important role among hens, Cook said.

“One of (the hens) always has to be dominant, so the rooster helps keep the flock from fighting each other,” she said. “And 25 chickens will produce, on average, 25 to 30 eggs a day. That’s a lot. That’s people actually wanting to do it for profit. Five would be perfect for the average family.”

Killeen resident April Chardt did not challenge the ordinance but offered several benefits for raising chickens.

“If you’re into recycling and composting, then chickens are what you need,” she said. “They love to eat table waste and vegetable matter.”

Chardt discounted concerns about noise.

“I’ve heard from people who say they are worried that chickens are too noisy,” she said. “Basically, for laying hens at their loudest, it’s about the same decibel as the conversations we have. Common household dogs ... can reach decibels from 80 to 100 in the loudest. Also, no rooster is needed to have eggs. That is a myth.”

Swine

Proposed changes have also been made to the city’s miniature swine ordinance, and staff officials have asked council members to clarify some of the language in the law.

“Whenever this went forward last May, there were a couple of last-minute changes that we felt needed some clarification,” Singh said. “The way the ordinance reads currently, I think you could interpret that to say that if it’s on the first floor, it’s 100 pounds and anything above the first floor could go back to that 200-pound weight limit. It wasn’t clear.”

The amended ordinance makes it unlawful to keep or maintain miniature swine over 200 pounds in a single-family or two-family dwelling unit or over 100 pounds in a multi-family unit.

“Miniature swine shall not be permitted above the first floor in a multi-family unit,” according to the ordinance.

“I think staff ... did a great job,” Councilman Jose Segarra said. “I think it’s a good ordinance.”

The City Council meeting on Tuesday is scheduled for 5 p.m. at City Hall, 101 N. College St.