Why Won’t Some Wyoming Towns Allow Backyard Chickens?

The city council of Rock Springs Wyoming voted down a proposal to discuss changes to a city ordinance to allow residents to keep chickens in their yards.

I've seen this issue pop up a few places around Wyoming over the years and frankly I don't see what the problem is.

With all due respect to dogs- because I love dogs...

I'd rather have chickens next door than a dog.

In my neighborhood, the houses have very little room between them. It's often called the "zero property line."

The house to my left has a big dog who loves to bark at everyone and fills the backyard with poop...

The house to my right has several small dogs who do the same thing. But those little dogs like to bark at all hours of the day and night.

WAIT. Wait, sorry that's a cat in a chicken suit. I don't think I have any cats in chicken suits in my neighborhood. My mistake. MOVING ON!!!!

Behind my house is a neighbor who has chickens in her yard.

Yes, my Wyoming town allows neighborhood chickens, and there are NO problems with it. Nothing bad happens.

Honestly, I sometimes forget that the chickens are there, even when I am in my back yard.

They walk around pecking at the ground and quietly chattering with each other at such a low volume they are actually quieter than the wild birds that live in my neighborhood.

Some people don't like roosters.

Personally, I like to hear them. But just because a person keeps chickens does not mean they need to have a roosters. My neighbors don't have one which is part of the reason their yard is so quiet.

The chickens my neighbor keep make far less of a mess then the dogs that are on either side of my house. They don't tear things up or dig massive holes.

The chickens do poop, I mean - obviously, but it is nowhere near the amount I see from the dogs at the houses on either side of me.

I have heard the concern that chickens will invite predators like coyotes, foxes and maybe even wild cats or wolves.

But those predators also go after small dogs and house cats. So, they come into neighborhood anyway, regardless of the presence of chickens.

Why some towns like Rock Springs have a problem with neighborhood chickens I'll never know.

What if they knew that they are missing out on a lot of free eggs? That might change their minds.