Why did the chicken cross the road? Perhaps to move inside of Iola’s city limits.
Support for allowing the ownership of chickens in town was on full display at Monday evening’s council meeting.
“By a show of hands, how many of you are here in support of chickens within the city limits,” asked Mayor Steve French. The majority of the hands in the room shot up, with the exception of only a couple.
Starting off the round table discussion, City Administrator Matt Rehder presented council members with proposed language for an ordinance to allow chickens in single-family residential zones.
The ordinance states that roosters would not be allowed and owners could be limited to four hens or chicks.
Hens would not be allowed on property other than single-family detached residential lots and must be kept in a secure enclosure at all times. In addition, these enclosures must be located at least five feet from the rear yard property line and any structure on the lot.
A chicken license would be required for anyone wanting to keep chickens and would be obtained from the code enforcement office.
With a fee of $50, the permit would be valid for a calendar year and would renew annually in the month of November. The ordinance also addressed concerns about foul odor, specifying that enclosures must be maintained in a neat and sanitary condition.
Code Enforcement Officer Greg Hutton noted that around 50% of the concerns his office has received in regards to chickens have had to do with noise and smell.
“Five backyard hens produce the same amount of poop as one medium-sized dog,” said Iolan Katrina Springer, during the public portion of the conversation. “You’re going to have dog owners that don’t clean up the poop in their yard and their yard is going to be nasty and smelly. There are a lot of homeowners here in Iola who have more than one medium-sized dog who don’t take care of their yard.”
She added that, unfortunately, there will also probably be some chicken owners who will do the same thing. “But, just like you have a lot of good dog owners that do take care of their dogs, you’ll probably have a lot of good chicken owners as well,” she said. Springer noted that there is also the advantage of being able to use chicken excrement in gardening, whereas you don’t have that benefit with dogs.
Similarly, Springer contrasted chicken noise to what already exists from dogs in Iola. “I go for a walk with my sister every night and there are so many dogs that bark loudly at us,” she said. “They make so much more noise than what my six backyard chickens did when I lived in Oklahoma. If you limit it to four hens, the noise isn’t really an issue.”
Springer, who owns farmland outside of Iola, brought along an egg from one of her chickens to show the council and prove her next point. “Eggs,” she said. “These are a benefit.” 
Council discussion about concerns with allowing chickens were continued from the previous meeting. Mayor French noted that council member Jon Wells had previously stated he was concerned that dogs would be considered “vicious” if they were to go after a chicken. French proposed that chickens be classified as a food source, instead of a pet. “I would like the council to consider, should a chicken at-large be attacked, maimed or killed by a dog, the chicken be considered a food product,” he said.
Wells clarified that he would be content moving forward with the ordinance if there were a compromise on the definition of a vicious dog in such incidents. “This would be an exemption saying that chickens are livestock,” he said. “The vicious dog ordinance doesn’t apply to at-large chickens. We need to be really specific. It needs to be said that if a dog kills or maims an at-large chicken, it won’t be deemed as vicious.”
