Bill governing residential hens needs more work

A bill aimed at allowing Oahu residents to keep more chicken hens in their yards isn’t ready to hatch just yet.

The City Council Intergovernmental Affairs and Human Services Committee last week tabled Bill 1 (2013) at the recommendation of committee Chairwoman Kymberly Pine to see whether it can be modified to meet the concerns of residents and city officials.

The bill would increase the legally allowable number of chicken hens at a residence to seven from the current two. The bill would also, however, reduce the maximum allowable number of roosters to one from two, and would bar residents from keeping any peacocks at all; current law allows residents to keep up to two peacocks.

Councilwoman Ann Koba­ya­shi, acknowledging the bill is controversial, said she introduced the measure to promote sustainability.

There are many constituents in her district "who are trying to feed their families good and nutritious eggs," said Kobayashi, whose district includes Palolo Valley, St. Louis Heights and Manoa. The seven-hen limit was chosen to ensure a family could get eggs every day because some do not lay eggs daily, she said.

Roosters and peacocks make noise that draws complaints, Kobayashi said.

To address that, the bill requires the hens to be in enclosures and at least 25 feet from a neighbor’s house. The bill says any homeowner raising hens will not be able to sell any eggs produced or benefit commercially from either chicken breeding or fertilizer production.

The Department of Planning and Permitting issued four violations last year against homeowners using their chickens for commercial gain. The Department of Customer Services, meanwhile, reported that over two years it had received about 185 complaints about chicken-related noise, although that figure includes both domestic and feral chickens as well as both roosters and hens.

Pine said one concern raised by a constituent was that it took an entire year to resolve a complaint she had against a neighbor with chickens and a rooster.

Sharon Young-Nakaue of Palolo Valley said she does not believe the city would be able to enforce a seven-hen limit.

An increase in the allowable number of chickens will increase health issues, Young-Nakaue testified at a committee meeting last week. "Flies breed in the chicken manure, increasing diseases for our citizens," she said. Additionally, "chickens carry lice and can become very vicious and dangerous."

Young-Nakaue said her own analysis shows keeping your own chickens to produce eggs is not cost-effective when accounting for the cost of feed and bale.

Pat Chung, Dave Mikami and Joe McGinn said they have not received any noise or smell complaints from their neighbors in the time they’ve raised hens in their yards. McGinn said an increase in chickens may even reduce the amount of insects.

Pine said she will bring the bill back when language is changed to quantify allowable noise and odor levels. "There needs to be a lot of guidelines and safeguards to ensure that a neighbor’s quality of life is not affected," she said.

Pine said she also wants to ensure the city has enough staffing to field a possible increase in the number of complaints and go out to enforce the law.

"I’ve gotten calls from people saying the city can’t even enforce the current law," she said.