Push to legalize backyard hens in Bossier fails
By KTBS Staff
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BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTBS) — A push to legalize limited backyard hens in Bossier City was rejected Tuesday by the City Council.
The vote failed 5-2 after residents on both sides of the fence spoke during open comment, pitting neighborhood peace against personal freedom.
Councilmember Brian Hammons, who sponsored the ordinance, framed south Bossier City as “a little bit of both… a little bit of the city, and… a little bit of country.” He said some properties are already grandfathered to keep livestock.
“There’s one house on Rossy Lee, I think they’ve got about 30 chickens. … There’s not a thing you can do about it,” Hammons said. “I’m a yes vote. I know I’m going to lose, but … I can’t really bring up an ordinance and then vote no against it.”
Before the vote, Hammons floated, then pulled back, a plan to add a $100 annual permit fee, saying he’d offer a follow-up amendment “if this passes.” It didn’t.
Public comment was brutally honest:
Linda Clements, a retired teacher, warned hens are “natural foragers” that “do not like to be enclosed,” and said droppings are acidic enough to “eat right through the clear coat on your car.” Chickens “attract rodents, raccoons,” can “carry diseases like salmonella and even avian flu,” and “their odor… wafts over the neighborhood,” she said. “Chickens ought to be in a rural area and not in our city.”
David Crockett urged the council to “embrace community freedom,” arguing hens are “pets and hobbies,” not businesses: “Dogs bark, cats roam. … There are negatives about anything you want.” He questioned a new fee: “You don’t have a fee for dogs or cats. Backyard hens deserve the same fair and balanced approach. … You may be taking away a child’s 4-H project.”
Brenda Davis, who originally raised the issue with council members, pushed back on blanket bans: “These chickens are going to be kept in a coop. They will be contained. And if they’re not, then you can do something about it then.” She compared potential odor complaints to existing city issues: “I live in South Bossier, your water system, it blows over here in my backyard. If we want to talk about smell, let’s talk about Bossier City’s responsibility about smell.”
On the dais, Councilmember Vince Maggio cited history and messy experiences: “They passed the ordinance in 1964, and I believe 1980. One yard might be clean, the other four or five is just really messy. It ain’t clean, it ain’t safe, it ain’t healthy.”
Councilmember Chris Smith pushed back on the “rights taken” framing, saying, “We’re also extending rights to those who do not want chickens next door. I need a better excuse than we’re taking your rights away.” But Smith ultimately voted yes, alongside Hammons.
Council member Joel Girouard said he personally likes chickens but called 40–50 constituents and got a “resounding no,” adding he has medical issues that make chickens “a hard no.”
With the electronic voting board down, the council conducted a voice/roll-call vote. Yes: Hammons, Chris Smith. No: Ross, Cliff Smith, Girouard, Maggio, Cochran.
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