Bossier City Council votes against allowing backyard chickens

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) - During Tuesday’s (March 15) meeting, the Bossier City Council discussed whether to allow residents to have chickens in their backyards and decided against it.

Current law “prohibits poultry to be raised in the city limits for commercial purposes or otherwise,” according to the proposal.

As of Monday morning, a change.org petition had about 261 signatures in support of its repeal.

Molly Burt has six chickens, but she said she had to give them to a friend outside city limits.

“We were refinancing our house and we had an appraiser come out and we didn’t know that it was against the city limits to have chickens. Next thing we know, the city marshal’s coming out, saying, ‘You can’t have chickens.’ So we had to take them to Benton,” she explained.

Burt said she was heartbroken.

“They are so sweet, such a de-stresser. Not to mention, that they give us eggs.”

Stephanie Antillon has no chickens of her own but says if the proposal passes, she would like to get some.

“We decided to make this home, and we were hoping that wherever we settle, that we would have a garden and we would have chickens to show our kids where food actually comes from. ... Imagine my surprise when I looked up the city ordinance.”

Antillon said she has a bachelor’s degree in nutrition science. Now she’s working on her master’s degree in public health.

“I feel it’s important people should be able to sustain themselves; they should be able to have their own food source and provide,” she said, noting the uptick in prices for gas and groceries.

Even if the council had voted in favor of the proposal, there still would have been limitations. According to the proposal:

• No male poultry (roosters) would have been allowed for any purpose
• Only six hens would have been allowed per acre
• All poultry must be kept in a coop at all times
• All poultry must have their wings clipped
• The living conditions need to be “odor free, clean, and orderly”
• Residents cannot raise poultry for commercial purposes

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