A Delmar middle schooler will be able to raise chickens as pets after the Bethlehem Planning Board gave site plan approval for the project last week.
Luke Manley, 11, of 25 Parkway Drive, had sought permission from the town to raise two chickens as pets. Raising chickens is considered “agricultural use” and is permitted by the town’s zoning board in residential areas, as long as site plan approval is obtained from the Planning Board.
The decision would not change the rules for keeping chickens within the town, but would allow the pets only to be kept by the applicant.
“I felt a lot of relief after (the Planning Board) approved it because I was scared for a while they would say no,” said Manley, who got the idea to raise chickens after attending barn school at Indian Ladder Farms.
Andi Manley, Luke’s mom, said she was unsure of the idea at first. Although Luke had been attending the school for several years and her husband, Harold, had been raised on a farm, she didn’t think the town would allow them to keep chickens.
“He had been asking for two or three years, and last summer he really began to push it,” she said. “I told him he would have to get approval from the town, and he just said, ‘Who do I ask?’”
Luke then began riding his bike to and from Town Hall to get the appropriate paperwork and speak with officials from the Planning Department. He also got written letters of support from neighbors.
“I told him, in life, you have to work for the things you want,said Andi. “He put all this effort in and made it happen.”
The Planning Board approved the proposal on Tuesday, Dec. 17, with some conditions. The chickens must remain in their coop or chicken run at all times, and they cannot become a nuisance to neighbors through noise or smell. The bedding material and manure must also be disposed of at a composting facility, with food and waste stored in containers to control odors and prevent pests.
Other stipulations stated the chickens can’t be slaughtered on the property. The chickens must remain for personal use, with no selling of eggs, compost waste or the chickens themselves.
The Manley’s can keep up to three chickens, but will most likely start with two. The coop and run will be built in the spring, and chicks will be purchased once it’s complete.
Luke hopes his hard work will help him earn a Citizenship in Community badge and Citizenship in the Country badge with the Boy Scouts. He also said he will use the chickens and the eggs they produce to give lessons in school and at 4H.
“I think it will be a lot of fun,” he said. “I read all the books I could at the library, and my dad will be helping me because he grew up on a dairy farm and they had chickens.”
Luke said he plans to purchase two German breed chickens. He want’s to name one Nannerl, which was a nickname of Mozart’s sister. The other chicken will be named either Margo or Octavia. All of the names were found in books he’s read.
“I am very happy because Luke is a kid who is not interested in competition and sports or a lot of the afterschool stuff that is mainstream,” said Andi. “I don’t know much about chickens, so I guess we’ll just take it a day at a time.”