A 5-year-old girl may soon be responsible for getting a law changed in the village of Waterford to allow her to keep pet chickens.
Abby Hittman and her parents addressed the Village Board Monday night, asking for permission to keep their three pet chickens, which are kept in a coop in the family’s fenced-in backyard.
“I love them,” Abby said. “They’re my pets. They lay eggs, and I take care of them.”
But they’re at risk of being taken away.
Someone complained when they saw a dead bird in the yard. Abby’s dad, Chuck, says it was a turkey he had hunted and was getting ready to clean. A police officer was sent to check it out.
“We came here today based off an anonymous complaint,” said Abby’s mom, Bonnie, who addressed village leaders with her husband and daughter.
She talked about what the chickens have brought to her daughter’s life.
“A sense of responsibility, accountability, happiness,” Bonnie said. “As a mom, I see consistency. She’s excited to check on her chickens every day. Then, when she gets the eggs, she wants to help cook with them. She’s learning a lot of different things. But also, it’s helping her socially too. She talks about her chickens at school. We have people walk by and stop to talk about the chickens. It’s been great.”
And the family did their homework before speaking to the board.
“We’ve personally talked to every neighbor that our property touches, and everyone across the street,” Bonnie said. “We’ve gotten signatures from all of them, saying they support us having these three chickens.”
But technically, the village of Waterford forbids the ownership of livestock or poultry. However, they typically only enforce the ordinance if there’s a complaint.
“We’re not trying to cause a problem,” Chuck said. “We take good care of these chickens. We keep our property pristine. We have no intention of ever killing or harvesting them.”
The Waterford Village Board decided they will discuss the issue and draft a resolution to be reviewed at a planning commission meeting next month. While the board reviews the issue, members said the chickens can stay.
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