A move to limit fowl in Iowa's capital eggs residents on to protest with a chicken parade

Residents with backyard coops in Iowa's capital city paraded with some of their chickens Monday from the Iowa Statehouse to City Hall after local officials ruffled their feathers by proposing stricter limits on raising birds in residential neighborhoods .

Ed and Mary Byrnes Fallon, the operators of an urban farm in Des Moines, hatched the protest after the City Council unveiled the proposal earlier this month to limit fowl play — and potential noise, smell and mess. The proposal would cut the number of birds allowed from 30 to 12 but also ban roosters.

Video posted online by KOI-TV showed several people in a small group of poultry enthusiasts holding chickens before walking the three-quarters of a mile from the Statehouse to City Hall. One boy wore a chicken hat.

"Flocks feed families," Mary Byrnes Fallon said. "We need to have these birds in our communities to help people understand where their food comes from, to get good food ourselves and for our neighbors, and just to have a good, positive experience."

The city has said the proposal is a response to other residents crying foul. Council member Linda Westergaard told WOI-TV last week that the birds are disturbing people's peace and quiet.

"They are disturbed by the smell, they are disturbed by the uncleanliness of everything," she said.

But Ed Fallon posted Sunday on Facebook that the city received a total of only three complaints about chickens from the start of 2020 through June 2024, as well as one complaint about large turkeys and ducks at large.