Palos Hills Restrict Residents to Owning No More than Four Chickens

Under an amended ordinance, Palos Hills is now further limiting the amount of chickens residents can keep in their backyard after complaints from residents regarding bothersome chickens in their neighborhoods.

Residents can now keep four chickens in their yard and will need to get rid of extra chickens within three years, according to The Chicago Tribune.

Late last year, Palos Hills restricted the number of chickens residents can have to four, but many residents owned much more than four chickens. Since chickens can live for a long time, Palos Hills needed to give residents an extension to allow them to keep more than four chickens for a restricted period of time.

The city's animal control officer, Beverly Williams, told The Chicago Tribune she received recent complaints of a woman keeping 18 chickens in her yard.

The new guidelines also state that coops and runs need to be 25 feet away from a neighbor's house and ten feet away from another chicken owner's house, The Chicago Tribune said.

An official amended ordinance will most likely be drafted in time for a vote at the next City Council meeting on Sept. 15.

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