Cara and Christopher Koehler's backyard in Sumter's historic district seems to be its own little ecosystem.
It has a few chicken coops home to three roosters, two of which are about to be rehomed, and 13 hens. Some are white, others are tan with some patterning, and one looks like a checkerboard. The roosters are large with hints of purple and green throughout their feathers.
The Koehlers have some of those classic red-and-white chicken coops made to look like a small barn, and surrounding those is tall wire fencing with overhead coverings.
And in another area of the yard are some squash they grew unintentionally from some compost they left on the ground. Additionally, the insect population on their property is at a minimum because the chickens take care of that.
And the Koehlers, who have six children, benefit from that ecosystem, both mentally and physically. And their neighbors benefit, too.
"Our neighbor in the back, every time we give them eggs, they come back with a pound cake," Cara said. "A couple of our neighbors get eggs from us, and we give eggs to a couple of our neighbors all the time, like our elderly neighbors."
Her kids know where their food comes from, which is not something today's kids are likely too familiar with, she said, and their birds feed their family of eight with some truly organic eggs. No bleaching, no money spent.
"They lay some really pretty eggs. Everything from like mint green to olive to brown," Cara said. "They're not bleached. They're not going through a process. We know what we feed our birds. We know we feed them natural things, like their treats that we give them have oregano and thyme in them. So they don't ever have to have antibiotics."
She also said they taste better than store-bought eggs. The yolks are creamier and thicker and can make some excellent hollandaise sauce, for example.
The Koehlers' backyard, however, could soon look different if Sumter City Council passes an ordinance that could ban roosters and limit the amount of hens one can have in city limits.
Council unanimously passed on first reading an ordinance to amend rules surrounding fowl earlier this month.
"What we're trying to do is allow those city residents who want to keep domesticated female chickens to still keep them while at the same time protect the properties next door from the intrusions that that might have," codes director for the city John Macloskie said at a city council meeting in early September.
As the fowl ordinance currently stands, the possession of outdoor chickens, turkeys, ducks, guineas, geese, pheasants, pigeons or other domestic fowl is allowed in Sumter city limits as long as the noise, odor and pest situation does not impair a person's health or disturb the peace and comfort of nearby residents.
There are also some stipulations for housing such animals that are currently in place.
If passed on second reading during the next city council meeting, the following changes could be enacted:
- Only female chickens are allowed, and residents shall have no more than eight of them.
- The chickens must be kept in an enclosure at all times and have a chicken coop.
- The coop must be a washable material.
- The chicken coop and enclosure must be at least 50 feet from the nearest residence other than the residence where the chickens' owner resides.
- The enclosure and coop must not be in the front or side yard.
Macloskie said he assumes the city would allow for residents who are in violation of the above rules to have a reasonable amount of time to come into compliance.
During the latest meeting when the fowl item was deferred, some residents spoke in support of the potential changes.
"I'm here on behalf of my family, my neighbors and some of the community. I don't know who has been affected by noise, odor and an overwhelming amount of flies in their personal space besides myself and my close neighbors. I hope no one," resident Rick Brownlow told council. "And I hope that the decisions made in the near future will put an end to those types of disturbances."
He then said he has no problem with hens but that a neighbor of his had roosters for a short time then got rid of them because of the noise. And that unless the chicken owner cleans the coops very often, the smell gets bad.
Christopher Koehler told council that the noise roosters produce is no greater than the bark of a household dog or the sound of instruments.
Local resident Eileen Rowe told council she thinks someone who wants farm elements such as chickens should move out to more rural areas where any potential smells from the chicken coops would not be noticeable to neighbors.
Cara Koehler said eight hens are not enough to supply a family that is as large as hers with enough eggs. She said that ideally, a family should have two hens per person in the home in case one hen stops laying and that a rooster is needed to create more chickens once some die. She said the possible ordinance does not seem to be written by someone who has had chickens because it does not take into account that limiting the numbers of hens one has defeats the purpose of having hens, which is to use their eggs, because they likely do not lay eggs their whole life.
Because the fowl item was deferred at the last city council meeting, council plans to make its final vote at the next city council meeting in October. So locals have until then to voice concerns to council. Public comments are only held during the last council meetings of the month, meaning there won't be a public comment period at the upcoming meeting.
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