Some scratch on chickens

I’ve been following the controversy over keeping chickens in town. I am not a Thermopolis resident, but I own property in Hot Springs County and live in the city of Cody. My husband and I have chickens.

Cody never passed an ordinance outlawing livestock in City limits. Instead we have a nuisance ordinance that extends to animal complaints.

Occasionally loose dogs attack someone’s chickens or other animals, and the police are involved. Otherwise Codyites coexist just fine with poultry, horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, cattle and potbellied pigs in our urban midst. We share eggs and meat from our chickens and turkeys with friends and neighbors, and compost all our waste. We’ve never gotten a complaint about our poultry.

A minor amount of biodegradable animal litter in dumpsters should be of far less concern than the mountains of plastic that are sent to the landfill. I’ve talked to people who said they moved to Wyoming because of our aversion to regulation.

This is an example of how difficult it is to undo or amend an ordinance, and the advantage of not creating these kinds or regulations in the first place.