Schirlyn Kamara-Sabur misses her chickens.

"As soon as you go into the garden, they would come to you," said Kamara-Sabur, who had her flock of 20 birds since they were chicks.

This morning they didn't.

Kamara-Sabur said she gave them away on Saturday after receiving a letter from Lancaster City officials saying she and her husband, Saheeb Abdus Sabur, faced fines of as much as $300 per bird if they failed to remove them.

The chickens are gone — to a farmette near Conestoga — but not forgotten. Kamara-Sabur said she is considering appealing to Lancaster City Council to overturn the ordinance that prohibits keeping chickens.

"This is just another step toward greening our city," said Kamara-Sabur, who started the Dig It! garden program with her husband in the southeast part of the city five years ago. They work with inner-city teens to grow vegetables and sell them at local farmers' markets.

The flock of chickens was added a year ago to provide eggs, teach the children how to care for animals and to help rid the garden of destructive grubs, Kamara-Sabur said.

She said they got about 50 phone calls, from as far away as North Carolina, from people offering to take the birds after an article appeared in the newspaper.

Kamara-Sabur said she was not aware when she got the birds that they were not allowed to be kept in the city. City officials have been supportive of her program and she understands they have a law to uphold. But, she said, she believes chickens should be permitted.

Municipalities across the country are rescinding bans on backyard poultry as more people become interested in sustainable agriculture and food safety.

"It's not something we were trying to take away from the kids and their learning experience, but we have to uphold our ordinance," said Eileen Bauer, the city health officer.

She said the city's action came in response to a neighbor's complaint.

Bauer said chickens can be noisy.

"As you are in the neighborhood and you're walking around, you can hear them," said Bauer, who sent letters to four other city residents last week informing them of the law and ordering them to remove the chickens.

Usually, people keep a chicken or two to get fresh eggs, she said. And, usually, they are not aware of the city ban on the birds.

People who raise chickens in the city often are recent immigrants who were allowed to keep backyard poultry in countries where they had lived before. And some are people who are embracing a sustainable lifestyle and want to raise their own food, she said.

Kamara-Sabur said her flock didn't make much noise. And her neighbors were aware of the birds. She and her husband would regularly take eggs around to her neighbors.

Some of the Dig It! program teens were there Saturday to see the chicken go. Kamara-Sabur said she plans to take the teens to see the flock this summer.


Staff writer Bernard Harris can be reached at bharris@LNPnews.com or 481-6022.