Metro Teen Fights For Her Urban Chickens

Urban chickens have been a controversial issue among Oklahoma City residents before, and now a metro teen is taking it upon herself to convince city leaders to make a change. Currently, chickens are not allowed on any property within the city limits unless the property is one acre or larger.

Raelin Russell is 14-years-old. Friday she was volunteering at the Cleveland County Fair, but she is the reigning 4H poultry grand champion in Oklahoma County.

She recently had to get rid of her show birds after getting a notice from the City of Oklahoma City saying they were not allowed. The animals are with her mentors now, but in the meantime, Russell is working to get them back.

“I would love to be able to walk outside in the morning before I go to school and see them and take care of them and feed them and water them,” she said.

On Sept. 15, she plans to plead with Oklahoma City leaders at the morning city council meeting to make changes to the current ordinance.

“I’m just hoping that they change it and update it to where they can just be in the city even if there are some regulations,” Russell told News 9.

The birds are not just a food source or good for gardening, she explained.

“It teaches you a lot of things – responsibility, how to care for yourself and something else, just how to prepare for a lot of things,” Russell added.

And her fingers are crossed these lessons will be enough to get the community behind backyard birds.

“I just hope that they realize that a chicken isn’t just a chicken.”