The Powell City Council should be open to more cackling about hens.

Last week, all but one councilor opposed a proposal to allow more than four birds on city lots. A common refrain for not doing so appeared to be the concern that opening up the door to more discussion could lead to more people speaking up about their likes — and dislikes — about the current program.

Seeing as that policy is nearly 10 years old, why not be open to policy revisions becoming a bigger discussion?

A lot has changed in the last decade. There are more people in town — more people new to the area in general — and backyard chickens have become quite trendy since COVID-19 led more people to look for local food sources, and avian influenza leading to an egg shortage and high prices.

Even if it opens up a can of worms, maybe it’s time to open that can? (Chickens love worms anyway.)

Maybe people want more regulations than they did in the past, although I suspect a lot of people would be OK with loosening them, whether that’s in the number of hens allowed or the restrictions on where the hens can be located.

It is interesting that the Park County town most connected to agriculture would be the one with the strictest rules on a common farm animal. Now, full disclosure, I’m a chicken tender myself and our family has enough birds that we need to sell eggs to keep them from taking over the counter. But we live outside Ralston in rural Park County. So, while I have a hard time seeing why someone wouldn’t love to hear hens cackling and bawking all day long, I fully understand that I’m quite biased.

However, I also believe in regulations being as limited as possible and used only when needed, as is the case with Cody’s policy on chickens. In Cody, residents don’t need to make an official request to have chickens and they don’t have to limit themselves, except for being limited to hens. However, residents who don’t do a good job of taking care of their chickens and emanate the smell of weeks of chicken poop, or who have so many birds they can’t keep them all in a proper space, can still be dealt with. All it takes is for a neighbor to complain, and then the police — usually the community service officer — get involved. At that point, with the knowledge that at least one neighbor is inconvenienced by the flock, a better arrangement can be made. Maybe the chicken owner is required to lessen their number of chickens, or provide a better enclosure?

You could certainly argue that regulations should be more proactive than this, and maybe you’re right. If the city council would be willing to look more closely at the policy and possible changes, maybe a large majority would come out in favor of the regulations in place? If so, that’s fine.

However, it may be that recent trends have made people more willing to be around chickens? I mean, who doesn’t love freshly laid eggs?

Either way, we shouldn’t be afraid to open that can of worms and see if the policy is still fresh, or it’s gotten a little rotten.