HARFORD COUNTY — The high price of eggs has many scrambling to find a different way to get them, and some people are deciding to raise their own chickens.
But in Harford County, residents have to live in an area that allows chickens in their yard. Now, the Harford County Council is discussing a bill to ease restrictions on owning chickens.
County council members Aaron Penman, Jessica Boyle-Tsottles, James Reilly, and Dion Guthrie introduced Bill 23-010 to make it easier to own chickens.
"It would allow community members to have their own eggs, be independent so they don't have to go to the store and fight inflation with eggs, and there's also a population that the chickens are pets,” said Councilman Aaron Penman.
Currently, chickens in Harford County are considered "livestock" and are only allowed on two or more acres.
In the proposed bill, "homestead chickens" would be defined under domestic animal, excluding roosters. It would let people have up to 10 chickens on a one-to-two-acre lot and would require the chickens to be in a coup setback 50 feet from the property line.
For some, like Cheryl and Kenneth, the passage of this bill will let them bring back a piece of their history.
They live on 1.8 acres and were forced to get rid of their chickens three years ago.
"I raised chickens in the same home for many years as a child and now we're not allowed to have them, we actually had to give away our hens because of a neighbors complained about our property,” said Cheryl Moretz, who lives in Harford County.
Others, like Emily Rossmark, says she's on edge about the bill and feels more education on raising chickens is needed, as she just rescued some in Harford County.
"Two weeks ago I actually rescued four hens and two ducks,” Rossmark continued, “someone thought it was an easter gift, though they could take care of them keeping them in a little baby pool until they flew out of the baby pool and starting pooping around the house and they didn't know what to do.”
Doug Kirby has chickens of his own in Harford County. He's on board with the bill but would like to see a change to broaden the ability for more people to own chickens.
"So the modifications that I’d like to see would be less acreage, or done by the square footage, where people who have less than an acre should still be able to have them,” said Kirby.
If land is over two acres, it will be exempt from the provisions that come from this bill.
Councilman Penman says the potential for amendments to the bill will be next, and then the council will vote.
