WATCH: Irmo Residents ‘Clucking’ for Backyard Chickens

Irmo Town Council will hear from residents and take a first vote on whether to legalize backyard chickens in its meeting Tuesday

IRMO, S.C. (WOLO) – Irmo Town Council will hear from residents and take a first vote on whether to legalize backyard chickens in its meeting Tuesday.

A group of residents has organized on Facebook as, “Hens for Irmo.” The group’s leader, Tony Oravec, says they’ve gathered more than 90 signatures from residents who support the change.

“You can have dogs, you can have cats, you can have birds,” Oravec said. “So why can’t you have chickens?”

Many towns and cities surrounding Irmo allow chickens. That’s another reason Oravec says council should consider moving forward.

“I really haven’t had anybody say no, they wouldn’t like it,” he said.

The City of Columbia allows residents to have up to four chickens. Rosewood resident Dana Fulmer has been leading her flock for about a year-and-a-half. Fulmer says tending to them is as easy as dealing with her dogs.

“And the result is my child learns where eggs come from,” she said, “and the majority of the year, we have free eggs.”

Irmo Mayor Hardy King did not return calls requesting for his comment, but Councilwoman Kathy Condom says she’s been looking at ordinances from surrounding cities, and getting opinions from officials. Condom says specifically, they’re worried about the number of regulations and permits that are required. She says they need to do more research.