Chicken coup: Cape man's love of fresh eggs could prompt council to allow chickens within city limits

Amelia likes to fly, or try to. Ruby's red. And Scarlet's a bit on the temperamental side.

Those who drive past the house on South Lorimier Street in Cape Girardeau would see them, and the seven others, simply as a flock of chickens, scratching around a backyard on a city street miles away from the nearest farm.

But to Nelson Sparks and his girlfriend, Maggie Kutz, they're the girls.

"We love 'em," Kutz said. "We raised them from babies. They're our pets."

That's why when the city put a nuisance violation notice on their door six weeks ago demanding that the chickens be removed, Sparks had no interest in emptying his nest.

He went to the Cape Girardeau City Council and petitioned them to change city ordinances to allow the keeping and raising of chickens within the city limits. He even took a note from his doctor explaining the health benefits of fresh eggs. The city now seems poised to change the law so that Sparks and others can enjoy the health benefits of fresh, free-range eggs.

"We just wanted to keep our girls," Sparks said. "They ain't bothering nobody. We love the eggs, and they're good for me."

The council is set to vote on the ordinance change at its meeting tonight.

The new ordinance is modeled after a recently enacted law in Columbia, Mo., that allows residents to keep a maximum of 10 hens in a controlled environment. No roosters are allowed, according to the law, and the chickens cannot become a nuisance.

What the ordinance actually does is remove chickens from the list of forbidden animals, but it leaves horses, sheep, goats and pigs in the public nuisance category, along with ducks, geese, turkeys, peacocks and guineas.

A new section would be added about the maintenance of chickens. The coops and surrounding pens would have to be clean, sanitary and free from rodents and odor. The coop walls would have to be whitewashed or painted annually. Also, the eggs could only be for personal use and not to be sold as part of a commercial venture. It would be illegal for the chickens to be raised for slaughter as well. Chickens would also have to be kept in enclosures or fenced areas at all times. No cat or dog that kills a chicken will be considered a dangerous or aggressive animal if a chicken is at large.

Sparks doesn't see why the council wouldn't approve the ordinance. When he bought his first four chickens in 2003, there was no city ordinance banning backyard chickens.

He and Maggie were at the Altenberg fair and saw the chickens for sale at the 4-H tent. Sparks immediately thought of the eggs they would produce. Maggie had a different first impression.

"I thought they looked so sweet," she said.

So they brought Whoopie, Scarlet, Misty and Diamond home. Sparks went about building a coop and a fenced-in area for them to roam around in. After a few mornings of crowing, they realized Misty and Diamond weren't hens.

"They turned out to be roosters," Sparks recalls with a sigh.

If Maggie loved those chickens, Sparks was less sentimental.

"I chopped their head off," he said.

Maggie cried while Sparks made himself chicken and noodle soup.

But they grew attached to Whoopie and Scarlet, so when the opportunity arose to buy some more hens, they bought eight, adding Amelia, Georgie, Elizabeth, Annie, Ruby, Jeanie, Janie and Sylvia. They raised the chicks inside under heat lamps.

Maggie refers to herself as "mama" when she's talking to the chickens and will often tell Sparks to tell the hens he loves them. They call the henhouse "the girls' condominium."

Sparks eats two or three eggs every day, and his hens produce about 230 eggs a month. They give a lot of them away, he said. Free-range eggs are much better than grocery store eggs, he said. Free-range eggs are lower in fat and cholesterol and higher in vitamins than store-bought eggs. And Sparks has the articles and data to back it up.

"I don't want to get rid of my chickens," he said. "They're part of my regimen. I have diabetes, and these eggs are good for me."

City manager Scott Meyer said that allowing chickens within city limits is a growing trend. Springfield, Mo., recently passed an ordinance, as did Columbia, New York, Chicago and Seattle.

"Mr. Sparks brought all this to our attention," Meyer said. "This is the process, and it's a great process where a resident can take something to their council person and get the discussion started. Someone really can make a difference."

Sparks isn't interested in social change. He simply likes his hens and the eggs they produce.

"I'd just like to keep my chickens and carry on," Sparks said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO