Darien Family Makes Case For Chickens

DARIEN, IL — Shortly after the pandemic began in March, Darien resident Melissa Goodridge lost her job at a cosmetics store. Her husband, James Harvatt, a chef, was laid off for a short time, but then was brought back.

With one less paycheck, the couple, who have two small children, needed to cut spending. One way was to produce their own food. And they got started right way.

The Seminole Drive residents started a garden in their side yard, growing tomatoes, broccoli, celery, and strawberries, among other crops.

And they bought chicks, intending for them to lay eggs. They built a coop in their side yard.

They were told the chicks were likely female, but the sex can be hard to determine with absolute certainty in the first few weeks. It turned out one was a rooster. And roosters like to crow at dawn. When neighbors objected to the noise, the family had a farmer friend take in the rooster.

But some still protested the family's six chickens. They took their complaints to city aldermen, one of whom called for Darien to consider regulations at a meeting two weeks ago. The city is looking into the issue.

After Goodridge learned about the city discussion in a Patch story, she decided to fight for the right of families to keep chickens. She has launched a Change.org petition for that effort. As of Friday, nearly 550 people have signed.

Along the street, the family has posted a sign about the online petition, with a code letting people immediately connect to it. People have come by to let the family know they support residential chickens.

Others in the neighborhood, she said, have chickens, but they are quiet about it. The other chickens are in backyards, while Goodridge and Harvatt's coop is in the side yard, clearly visible from the street. Goodridge said she doesn't mind people knowing, calling herself a "proud millennial."

Some chickens have started laying eggs. In time, each is expected to produce one a day, helping with the family food budget.

Sometimes, though, they produce less.

"The day after the storm, they didn't lay any eggs. They may have been stressed," Harvatt said.

While they believe families should have the right to own chickens, they are fine with some regulations. They said a limit of eight to 10 chickens in residential neighborhoods would be fine.

"We don't have 10 acres where we can have 100 chickens," Goodridge said. "We're not looking for farm animals."

On a recent day, Goodridge and Harvatt showed a visitor their garden and coop. She asked her son, Mason, 4, to get some strawberries. But he could find none. At the coop, Mason walked in and grabbed one of the chickens to hold. The chickens were making a low clucking sound.

Goodridge said they are trying to be more self-sufficient.

"This won't feed us 100 percent. To at least supplement what we have, that's helpful," she said.

One of their neighbors recently texted his support of their chickens. The man told them he hoped to take his grandchildren by to see the birds.

"I wanted to let you know that I think it's really cool that the kids have chickens," he wrote. "I wish we could have goats because that's what I would want, or a monkey (my wife told me no monkeys)."

Monkeys? Goats? That's a City Council discussion for another day.

Goodridge plans to speak at the next City Council meeting, which is 7:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall. She urged residents to attend to show their support.