Elgin's first chicks apparently violate city code

As it turns out, Elgin's first official resident chicks are ... well, not so official.

Residents Pete and Katie Mangan have been keeping their four new chicks in their basement since Monday, but Elgin's city code requires chickens to be kept in a pen, coop, building or other enclosure at all times.

Mangan is among the first few residents of single-family homes to be granted permits to keep hens, no roosters, in backyard coops. Elgin's pilot program allows up to 15 residents to participate.

The chicks - only a day old when the Mangans brought them home - are staying in a box under a heating lamp and will move into the coop in six to eight weeks, Pete Mangan said.

"They need 80 to 100 degrees as baby chicks," he said. "Once they have their feathers, they can be outside year round."

Mangan said he was informed by a city official earlier this week that he's violating the city's ordinance by keeping the chicks in the house.

Mangan also said his understanding is that the city isn't planning on taking any action for now. "It's a pilot program, they are kind of writing it as it goes," he said.

The city council, which approved the one-year pilot program for 2015, will weigh in on the issue, City Manager Sean Stegall said.

"Since this is a pilot program, we are going to seek clarification from the city council to confirm that portion of the ordinance (regarding chickens in the house) is consistent with their objectives," he said.

Resident Hollyce Mack said she contacted Councilman John Prigge after she read newspaper articles about the Mangans' chicks. She's always been concerned that residents in the pilot program would end up allowing chickens in the house, she said.

Residents should outfit their coops with electricity if they want to keep chicks, Mack said.

"This green movement is wonderful, I just don't want the things in the house," she said. "I'm concerned about the precedent we're setting."

Prigge said he contacted city staff members after hearing from Mack. He also has concerns about the Mangans' chicks being kept indoors, he said. "The law is ultra clear," he said.