Fresh eggs can be laid in Okarche town limits by legal chickens, town trustees have ruled.
Hobby chickens were unanimously approved by the Okarche Town Trustees Monday night with a few specific rules.
No more than eight chickens will be allowed at a home.
A $25 permit for hobby chickens was considered but not not enacted by trustees. And housing additions in Okarche town limits can have their own rules on chickens where such rules against chickens could be enforced, explained town attorney Bryce Kennedy.
Roosters are not allowed under the Okarche ordinance. More people are raising hobby chickens for eggs, Kennedy said.
“This is a growing thing, and it is kind of in keeping with the green movement that you are making your own garden and chickens and you are creating your own,” Kennedy said.
The chickens have to be kept in a coop, and food most be kept in containers. Chicken coops would not be allowed within 10 feet of property lines. Ducks and geese are not allowed by town ordinance, however. Town Trustee Matt Blackwood, Mayor Jeff Sadler and Trustee Joe Frisby approved the ordinance Monday night in a regular meeting.
