JACKSON, Wyo. — Chickens and honeybees could soon have Town rights.
During Town Council’s Workshop on Feb. 26, a motion was made by Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson and seconded by Jonathan Schechter to move forward with a draft ordinance proposing to allow chickens (not roosters) and honeybees within Town limits.
According to the Town, bear regulations would be updated to accommodate new honey bees and hens.
“I’m pro chickens and I’m pro bees, I would like to see an ordinance draft,” Morton Levinson said during the workshop. “I don’t think everyone in town will have a bee hive or chicken coop, but the general ability for us as humans to relate to animals on a more regular basis is good for our community, our environment and our mental health.”
Town Workshop minutes state that in recent years there has been a nationwide movement to allow hens and honey bees within towns/cities.
Town outlined the benefits and downsides to raising both chickens and bees.
Chickens encourage composting, consume unwanted bugs (including mosquitos), provide eggs (a hen lays approximately 250 eggs per year), offer a fun, family educational experience and their manure is safe for gardens, once composted properly. On the other hand, chickens are also associated with certain diseases, make soft clucking noises, attract predators and flies and could possibly end up as unwanted pets in need of a home.
Bees provide pollination, which results in increased vegetable, flower and fruit production, produce honey that can be harvested and provide an educational and rewarding experience. Bees also compete with native bee populations, could introduce diseases to the native bees, have a sting if stepped on or hassled and the honey could attract predatory animals if not properly secured.
Town Council said during the meeting that they will mull over the pros and cons during their next workshop.
