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Orange County Revisits Proposal to Allow Backyard Chicken Farming

Photo: Scott Sayre, Flickr.
Photo: Scott Sayre, Flickr.

A renaissance of urban egg farming across the country has Orange County leaders considering whether to allow residents to raise backyard chickens. The board of commissioners will revive the discussion at a meeting Tuesday in what is scheduled to be a short work session with the planning and zoning committee. The board is expected to talk about how it would zone backyard chickens for residents of unattached single family homes and trailers.

This conversation comes three years after commissioners first rejecting a proposal that would have allowed residents of single-family homes and trailers to raise up to three chickens.

Officials have since expressed concern about how residents might manage their chickens once they’ve stopped laying eggs. They cite the chickens live up to ten years but can only lay eggs for three years.

Commissioners are considering launching a pilot program that would limit the number of households allowed to raise chickens in their backyards.

If the board were to propose and pass an ordinance, Orange County would join cities like Austin, Texas and Madison, Wisconsin.