WORCESTER— Raising chickens is currently banned in Worcester, but that could soon change. Resident Joseph Mangiameli, who previously kept chickens in Millbury, is petitioning the city to allow backyard hens. His proposal, brought before the council on Tuesday, would permit residents to raise chickens while prohibiting roosters due to noise concerns. He also suggests limiting the number of chickens per household to address potential issues.
“My wife and I had six chickens who were for the laying of eggs only,” said Mangiameli. “It was a great blessing, because not only do they make great pets, but they also produce very healthy and amazing eggs. We were able to feed our family, and some of my children’s kids as well.”
Also, given the bird flu concerns driving up egg prices, now might be a good time for more people to get their own eggs from their chickens, he added.
“I think the time has come,” Mangiameli said. “Last time I went to the grocery store to buy eggs, they were $5.50 a dozen. That’s absolutely ridiculous. I think this is a win-win situation.”
Others said there could be ill effects of residents owning chickens, including noise. Mangiameli said the concern over noise could be addressed by limiting the number of chickens a person could have.
Resident Zane Mullins said he previously worked at a pre-school and saw kids have a better connection to their food, and that it might allow at least some residents to pay less in grocery costs.
John Keough, activist, journalist and resident who spoke on a number of agenda issues during the public speaking portion of the meeting, said he was “pro-chickens.”
“You guys should stay out of people’s ability to grow food for themselves,” Keough said. “Folks should be allowed to do gardening and raising animals on their own. It works in a ton of other places here in Massachusetts and around New England.”
Council member Khrystian King said the matter of the chickens had previously come before the Planning Board, on which he had served.
“I know that the Planning Board recommended it favorably, but I don’t recall what we did or didn’t do,” King said.
After batting around some pros and cons, the council voted to obtain the previous report from the Planning Board and send it to Economic Development.
Council member Morris Bergman said he felt the chickens might be more appropriate for Worcester’s surrounding suburbs rather than the city itself.
“I’m sure this is well-intended, but I think the petitioner himself states what is obvious – that if you live in the towns…it maybe makes sense,” said Bergman, “but a densely populated city like Worcester, you’ve heard testimony that you need to get the right kind of chicken – not a rooster. Who’s going to monitor that? We’ve got a code department that’s out straight. They’re going to take calls because someone got the wrong kind of chicken.”
Bergman added that he is not against chickens, and likes them very much.
“I like chicken soup, I like fried chicken, I like barbecue chicken, I like all sorts of chicken. I like eggs, too, but I’ll have to either make the judgement of buying them at the grocery store for a higher price or not.”
Mangiameli said it’s easy to find information online about how to make areas for their chickens and keep predators away, including birds of prey.
“A person can create a good coop as well as a good area for the chickens to be that is protected from pests, as well as a screen above to keep the chickens free of flying pests,” he said.
Bergman said that while it would be relatively easy to keep predators away from the chickens themselves, it could attract them to the city’s neighborhoods.
“If coyotes could vote on this, they’d be unanimously in favor of [allowing] chickens,” he said.
Councilman George Russell wanted the language and permitting of the petition’s verbiage cleaned up, possibly limiting the chickens to areas of a property away from neighbors.
“I can’t go along with this kind of proposal, which is blanket approval across the city,” Russell said, advocating for people to apply for permits that would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
“I ain’t no chicken when it comes to this,” King added, speaking in favor of urban farming, which he said does take place in Boston.
“I agree with councilor Russell that it requires special permits and perhaps some zoning changes, and strictly disallows roosters,” he said. “The notion that this is not an urban opportunity just doesn’t fit. The do it in the largest city in New England and they have specifications.”
Council member Etel Haxhiaj said another Worcester resident, Amanda Shearstone, was the one who had done extensive research and presented it to the Planning Board in 2023. Shearstone is the founder of Chicken Up Worcester.
“She actually proposed two different sets of ordinances,” Haxhiaj said. “She did a lot of work to go to the planning board. She submitted and brought out residents. I find it a little bit frustrating that we have to go back to the planning board, when there has been a resident…who has already done a ton of work and was basically ignored.”
The motion to get the report from the Planning Board was approved unanimously.
Steve Smith is a veteran reporter from Connecticut with 17 years of experience at The Hartford Courant. Now based in Worcester, he brings his passion for photojournalism to his work and spends much of his free time behind the camera. He can be reached at steve@stevephotographysmith.com
