Aim: No longer run a-fowl

CLOVIS — Steven Hill wants a weird, funky chicken and a guard dog goose.

But the city of Clovis will not let him keep them in the city limits.

Hill, a planning and zoning committee member, said he is working toward changes in city ordinances that would allow residents to keep chickens in their backyard.

“When I came here I thought, ‘Surely in a little agriculture town like Clovis you can raise a couple of chickens in your back yard,’” said Hill, who transferred to Cannon Air Force Base as a civil engineer eight years ago.

“I was surprised to find you can’t.”

Chickens are allowed in more than 1,000 cities nationwide, including Lubbock and Albuquerque, according to backyardchickens.com.

But Clovis ordinance prevents small farm animals, including chickens, from being kept within 100 feet of residential lots.

“Most residential lots are not even 100 feet and your lot would have to be at least 200 feet to keep chickens,” Hill said. “I don’t quite understand the thought process of not allowing it.”

Senior Animal Control Officer Tim Blair confirmed the city ordinance, quoting the item from the animal regulations section: “No person shall keep poultry within one hundred feet of any residence or business establishment, except the residence or business establishment of the person owning or controlling the poultry.”

Blair said he is not aware of any place inside city limits that meets that requirement, except for two limited sections of Clovis that are zoned for horses and goats, respectively.

“They would basically have to own an entire city block,” he said. “From my understanding, even the roadway across the street is within that 100 feet.”

Animal Control is authorized by the city to enforce that code, but the issue is “not as common as most people think,” said Blair.

“I have dealt with a couple of cases,” he said. “Policy does authorize us to cite on first contact (following a complaint), but we typically try to allow them 24 hours (to relocate the poultry).”

If a complaint is made, the issue is typically with neighbors bothered by noise at “first light and throughout the day,” Blair said.

Hill said he wants to raise three or four chickens in his backyard as a stress reliever as well as a measure to live off the land.

Hill said he is working to educate the community about chickens so that he might have broad support when he goes before city officials with a plan to change the chicken ordinance.

“People are often against things they are miseducated on and this could be a way to correct that,” Hill said. “I just want to do it for the peacefulness.”

Staff Writer David Grieder contributed to this report.