Bigger backyard birds are being considered in Sarnia.
The existing bylaw that allows for backyard hens will undergo a review by city staff, including public feedback.
The idea was brought to city council by Laurie and Dean Frayne following a complaint about their backyard chickens.
The couple has six hens at their London Road home, however the city bylaw only allows for bantam hens, which are about half the size of a regular chicken.
Laurie told council they initially misread the bylaw.
"We're proposing that council would amend the by-law to allow Sarnia residents to raise standard size backyard chickens," said Frayne. "Although the current bylaw allows for bantam hens, this size of chicken does not produce large enough eggs for even a small family to support its egg usage."
She said they purchased the chickens to be able to raise their own eggs, due to ongoing health issues that she experiences.
"It's very difficult to find free range eggs with all of the health benefits, and these chickens have also become family pets with each having a name," said Frayne.
Sarnia council, in a vote of 7 to 2, agreed amending the bylaw is worth reviewing.
Community Services General Manager Stacey Forfar said a report will go back to council before the summer break.
"We can certainly do a review of different bylaws out there and different standards that would apply and give council some choices in terms of what that could look like here in Sarnia," said Forfar. "It's not an unusual bylaw, there's a number of them out there in Ontario and different provinces. And again, it would require some public feedback and some public notification process. I believe there's amendments to this bylaw, plus zoning more than likely."
Councillors George Vandenberg and Dave Boushy voted against a bylaw review.
Just last summer in Chatham-Kent, a survey found 68.4 per cent of respondents in favour of backyard chickens, but only 45 per cent were interested in having chickens themselves.