Backyard chicken ordinance may return

RAPID CITY, S.D. — The idea of allowing Rapid City residents to keep chickens in their backyard may return to the Rapid City Council in the form of a two-year experiment.

An ordinance allowing a family to have up to six hens in the backyard failed recently on a 5-5 vote before the council.

Alderman Aaron Costello is proposing now that a certain number of residents be allowed to raise chickens in line with the proposed ordinance and that the city council evaluate the policy after a two-year period.

Costello tells the Rapid City Journal that a “test market” would help determine which concerns about backyard chickens are valid and which are not.

Tags: south dakota, livestock, life, agriculture, poultry