Animal Group Calls 'Fowl' On Changing Town Code For Chickens

TOWN OF BABYLON, NY — As some residents fight to raise backyard chickens, one animal advocacy group is crying "fowl."

Last month, West Babylon resident Robert Frampton spoke on behalf of chicken owners in the town of Babylon and asked the Town Board to loosen restrictions. Specifically, Frampton asked the board to revise the code which states chicken owners must have a 100-foot setback, making it impossible for most who live closer than 100 feet from their neighbors.

However, John Di Leonardo, president of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, asked the Town Board to keep the code as it is. He said his group has rescued multiple abandoned fowl in the area, including two ducks abandoned in the pond next to Town Hall and a peahen that had parasites.

"My organization has continued to rescue other birds abandoned in the town, including roosters and a domestic goose who was abandoned in one of the canals," he said. "As I've stated previously, it would not be fair to my all-volunteer organization, which receives no governmental assistance, for the town to loosen fowl restrictions in Babylon."

Di Leonardo said eliminating restrictions would make the abandoned fowl problem worse, resulting in "cruelty to the birds and an increased nuisance for the residents."

"In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, traditional animal shelters like the Babylon Animal Shelter and fowl rescues like my own are particularly inundated," he said. "Just as residents have bought puppies en masse to keep children busy while stuck in isolation, many concocted ill-conceived home hatching projects to occupy their children while many others panic-bought chicks over concerns about food scarcity, not realizing chickens cannot even lay eggs until they are 6 months old."

He said a restriction against keeping chickens under 8 weeks old is "an excellent one, as it will certainly curtail impulse purchases that people later regret as well as help prevent people from mistakenly acquiring a rooster."

While DiLeonardo said he would not support expanding or removing the setback requirement, he said he would support a code that goes as far as banning anyone in the town from purchasing waterfowl and grandfathering in existing birds and a licensing program for adoptable birds.

"I am also pleased to see the requirements for hardware cloth and precipitation, wind, and predator-proof enclosures, both for the safety of the birds and to limit rodents," he said.