Penn Hills residents are flocking to chicken keeping as a way to connect with nature and insulate themselves from egg price fluctuations.
The municipality carved out a special exception for backyard chicken coops in 2016, allowing people to keep up to four hens — and no noisy roosters — on their property with approval from the zoning hearing board. Since then, Penn Hills planner Damian Buccilli has counted around 140 homeowners with chickens, including those who’ve yet to be properly permitted.
“I thought for sure that this was going to be a fad,” Buccilli said. “It has now become a major part of my job.”
Three to four residents ask to keep fowl each month, and nearly all get approval, but issues arise when residents refuse to go through the permitting process, don’t adhere to the ordinance or have outstanding code violations, according to Buccilli.
“You’re not going to go to jail for not registering chickens, but we will seek fines,” Buccilli said.
Fines aside, the ordinance has been a modest moneymaker for Penn Hills — almost $5,000 per year, between the $100 filing fee and $80 building permit.
On Aug. 23, the board approved Theresa Evans-Wooten’s request to keep chickens, one of two granted at their monthly meeting.
Evans-Wooten’s “chicken dealer” — as Penn State Connected Communities program director Michael White appeared in her contacts — helped her get chicks, a coop, feed and more after she was inspired by a friend with a “real farm.” All she had to pay for was the chicken run.
Connected Communities launched two years ago in response to heightened interest in urban and suburban agriculture during the pandemic, according to White. By living in the municipality, White said he’s connected many residents to the program, but his work extends throughout Allegheny County.
White cautions: “You have to be ready to take care of chickens. They are a responsibility.”
To comply with the local ordinance, coops must be vermin- and predator-proof, provide at least three square feet of space for each chicken and be kept in good repair.
Not only that, but Buccilli said between feed, medicine, supplements and other supplies, there are better ways to save money. He’s kept four hens ever since the ordinance passed in 2016, which costs him “a couple hundreds bucks …every month or two, and I get only a couple dozen eggs every two to three weeks,” he said.
“However, I have learned a lot about where my food comes from. As long as you approach it sensibly, it’s a rewarding time to really connect with nature.”