Champaign Writing Rules To Own Backyard Chickens

City leaders in Champaign are working on an ordinance that will allow residents to keep chickens in their backyards.

Champaign city planner Lacey Rains Lowe says representatives from city departments like police, planning, legal and neighborhood services are working through the legislation. The Champaign City Council voted in July to end a ban on keeping chickens. They ordered city staff to draw up regulations.

The News-Gazette reports that city workers are considering how many hens residents can keep, whether permits and registration will be needed and how chicken coop designs will work with zoning codes. The city plan to prohibit roosters.