Do you think it's okay to keep chickens as pets? Lots of Arkadelphians are doing it, even though it's against the law. The city had a hearing on urban chicken keeping and no one spoke out against it.
This is one of those things people do that's illegal, but they do it any way and no one says anything. Well, someone called city hall and complained a neighbor had chickens. So now, the city's looking at either enforcing or possibly lifting the urban chicken ban.
Ingo Schranz's eleven chickens barely make a peep. Unless, "They get excited about laying an egg and make some fuss, but it's nothing that would annoy anyone," says Schranz.
The Henderson State chemistry professor started raising them a year and a half ago knowing it's against the law.
"But, I also knew my neighbor had had chickens for about fifty years and it wasn't a problem, so I didn't think it would be a problem," says Schranz.
While his chickens hang out in his backyard, Janie Thompson shipped hers off to a friend outside city limits.
"One lady said, 'oh, you're breaking the law,' and, I thought, if someone thinks that, whether it's true or not, then I don't want to do that," says former chicken owner Janie Thompson.
The chickens lay an egg a day, and both families think it's important to produce local food. They also say it's a good way to teach kids responsibility, which is why they spoke out at the meeting.
"They have their pet chickens, and they name them and so it's quite exciting and a good learning experience for our children," says Schranz.
"I just love the sound that the chickens make, and the eggs are great. They taste different than the eggs from the store. I know they're really healthy. My chickens would come running up to me. You could pick then up like alittle dog. They were very friendly. They were not troublesome," says Thompson.
So what happens next? The city will collect more opinions and likely model an urban chicken law after Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers where keeping chickens is allowed.
The chicken owners say they eat bugs and weeds. No roosters though. One woman joked she wanted one to compete with her neighbor's loud dog.
