Jodi Thorp feeds her chickens, now housed in a coop at a friend's house. Orange County commissioners may be ready to hatch a backyard chicken program. The board is considering a proposed ordinance that would permit residents to keep up to four hens — no roosters allowed — in a coop in the backyard. The final vote is scheduled for June 8. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

After years of squawking, Orange County commissioners are ready to hatch a backyard chicken program.

The board listened approvingly Tuesday to a proposed ordinance that would allow residents to keep up to four hens — no roosters allowed — in a coop in the backyard of a single-family lot in unincorporated Orange County. The final vote is set for June 8.

The news made Jodi Thorp want to crow.

“I have three kids at home and we joke that I’m a professional during the day and a farmer at night,” said Thorp, a philanthropic consultant. “I have gardens and vegetables, and I would love to have fresh eggs. I’ve experienced that before and know the benefits.”

She and her family had enjoyed fresh eggs from backyard chickens when they lived in Orlando, which established its program in 2016. But after moving in 2019 to a home near Lake Jennie Jewel outside the city, they had to give up their birds.

Thorp urged commissioners to adopt the ordinance.

“We all know there’s a national trend in food sustainability and innovative growing techniques,” she said. “Everywhere you look, fresh, healthy food initiatives are being created and encouraged. Cultivating a local food economy is on the top of our mind.”

Orange County commissioners are considering a proposed ordinance that would permit residents to keep up to four hens — no roosters allowed — in a coop in the backyard. The final vote is scheduled for June 8. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

In addition to producing an egg a day, the Thorp family chickens, Juju, Scarlett and Bella, are fun.

A friend took the birds in when Thorp realized she couldn’t keep them. The family sometimes visits the hens.

If the measure passes, Orange County will join a roost of local governments allowing residents to keep chickens for their eggs. In addition to Orlando, the list includes Longwood, Maitland, Winter Park and Winter Garden and neighboring counties of Lake, Osceola and Seminole.

Orange County now allows chickens only in areas zoned for agricultural use.

Since 2013, commissioners considered chicken programs five times — always deciding it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

The animal services’ advisory board advised against it in 2017 out of concern for hens once their egg-laying days are done.

Another previous commission was at least partially swayed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisories.

According to the CDC’s website, “Backyard poultry can carry Salmonella bacteria even if they look healthy and clean and show no signs of illness. You can get sick with a Salmonella infection from touching backyard poultry or their environment.”

A CDC alert recommends supervising children around the birds, coops and pens and washing hands with soap and water after touching poultry, their eggs or anything in the area where they live and roam. It also suggest keeping hand sanitizer near your coop.

“First and foremost, we know that education is the key to success with a program like this so we’re requiring applicants to successfully complete the urban chicken-keeping training class,” said Lori Forsman, who works for the county’s sustainability and resilience initiative, in a presentation to commissioners.

The required University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ chicken class, which covers topics from caring for baby chickens to poultry diseases, aims to teach backyard farmers how to keep both their flock and themselves healthy.

Salmonella is most frequently reported as a cause of poultry-related illness, causing fever, stomach cramping and diarrhea.

In 2020, CDC and public health officials in all 50 states investigated 17 multistate outbreaks of Salmonella linked to contact with poultry in backyard flocks, according to the agency’s website. The number of reported outbreaks was higher last year than past years, possibly because interest in the hobby was sparked by more people staying home during the COVID pandemic.

The CDC reported 1,722 people were infected, including at least 333 who were hospitalized and a death in Oklahoma.

About a quarter of the people infected were children younger than 5 years of age.

The county’s proposed ordinance also would require a $60 permit and limit the number of permits countywide to 130.

The ordinance allows chickens to be kept solely for producing eggs for home consumption. The measure also forbids backyard chicken owners from selling their chickens, the eggs, feathers or manure. They also may not breed or slaughter their flocks.

Roosters aren’t allowed because they can be noisy, aggressive and aren’t needed to produce eggs.

Hens will lay an egg without a rooster’s help, which is only needed to produce chicks.

A chicken coop made of welded wire mesh is required and must be approved by the county zoning division.

Coops must be constructed to protect chickens from predators like cats and raccoons and must be tied to the ground.

Coops and pens combined are limited to 100 square feet.

The ordinance also forbids ducks, geese, peacocks, pigeons, quail and turkeys from backyard flocks.

Forsman said the rules won’t override restrictions or prohibitions in a residential community’s bylaws which forbid chickens.

The measure also doesn’t allow roaming chickens in the backyard, requiring the birds to be confined to a coop or a pen.