Politics & Government
Chicken Chat: A Flock of Royal Oak Residents Pull Livestock Permits
Residents seek approval from the Royal Oak City Commission to keep chickens in hen houses and coops.
Permission to harbor livestock is on the Royal Oak City Commission agenda when it meets Monday at 7:30 p.m on the third floor of City Hall.
Six applicants have applied for permits to keep chickens in hen houses and coops throughout the city, according to a memo from City Manager Don Johnson. The applications have been approved by city inspectors who reviewed plans for confining the birds on Oct. 15. The permits now need approval from the City Commission to be issued.
Don't expect any clucking from commissioners on the issue Monday. The approval of the applications is on the consent agenda. Consent agenda items typically are routine items that are passed together without discussion.
Chicken chic
From New York to California, people are going cuckoo for chicken coops.
Numerous media stories have been written in the past three about the raise-your-own-organic-chickens-and-eggs-in-your-backyard movement, evidenced by—Peggy Orenstein wrote about the trend in the March 11, 2010 edition of the New York Times Magazine ("The Femivore's Dilemma").
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Pecking order
In Royal Oak, Chapter 484-14 of the Code of Ordinances provides guidelines for any person who wishes to keep horses, cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, chickens and similar livestock.
"No permit shall be issued for the keeping of any such livestock or animal except where it appears that the keeping of such livestock or animals is not likely to create a public nuisance," reads the code.
Owners of chicken houses must provide a plan for keeping such structures clean at all times and remove excreta.
Click here to read Royal Oak's livestock code.
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