Waltham may soon allow a chicken in every garage

Sharan Hawkes and her family has kept Plucky as a pet in their back yard for the past 17 months, even though a city ordinance prohibits residents from having chickens as pets. But now the family has the backing of two city councilors to change Waltham’s zoning regulations to allow homeowners to keep one chicken as a pet.

“People have a lot of misconceptions about chickens,’’ Sharan Hawkes said. “They say things like, ‘Chickens belong in soup and not in Waltham,’ and that’s just mean.’’

Neighbors may not like it, but chickens have been popping up all over the communities around Boston lately. Last year Arlington’s Town Meeting approved a bid by local fowl enthusiasts to allow residents to keep up to six hens, as long as the owners get permits. Brookline, Belmont, Lexington, and Newton also allow the birds, as long as a permit is obtained. Some chicken owners say their numbers are growing as more people look to provide at least some of their own food.

Plucky’s role is more pet than egg producer. Her saga started a year and a half ago, when she happened into the family’s life.

Sharan Hawkes said that when her husband, John, told her that he spotted a chicken wandering around in front of their home, she thought he was losing his mind.

She looked with her own eyes and saw something straight out of a bad joke: a featherless chicken crossing the road.

“It was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,’’ Sharan Hawkes said. “It was ugly, ugly, ugly!’’

She said she called the Waltham police to see if anyone had lost a chicken. She was told no, and Plucky became the family pet.

Plucky has grown her feathers back and lives in a coop in the backyard of the Dix Street home. The family’s three daughters take care of the chicken and love it as much as they would a puppy.

Sharan Hawkes said Plucky has a friendly personality, comes when people call her, and plays around with the children.

It is their love for this chicken, she said, that is driving their fight to change Waltham zoning laws that currently prohibit residents from owning chickens.

Their fight started a few months ago, when someone reported them for keeping an illegal pet. They called City Councilor Gary Marchese, who is now cosponsoring the ordinance change with Councilor at Large Paul Brasco to allow Waltham residents to own one chicken.

Marchese said he supported the change after hearing about Plucky and learning that many other communities have started to allow people to keep chickens as pets or raise them for food. He said the change will allow for a single chicken per household. Roosters are banned because they make too much noise.

“I don’t think this is harmful,’’ Marchese said. “I don’t think it’s detrimental to the neighborhood or community, and I wouldn’t stand behind it if it was.’’

Sharan Hawkes said her neighbors have been supportive of the zoning change, but some residents recently filed a petition against the measure.

“There are days I can’t sit in my back yard due to smell of the chicken,’’ neighbor Charlie Herbert wrote in a petition to the City Council. “Owning a chicken is fine if you live on a farm or have enough space in between each house. I feel the neighborhood was fine the way it was before this chicken appeared, and I feel the neighborhood would be fine once the chicken is gone.’’

Marchese said the main reason opponents give is that they believe chickens are unclean.

“I think that some people think chickens breed disease, and they’re unsanitary, but I don’t think there’s any supporting evidence of that at all,’’ Marchese said. He added that the Waltham Board of Health would have to approve the change.

Despite the occasional harsh feedback, Sharan Hawkes said the push to change the zoning ordinance has been a valuable experience for her family, especially her three daughters, who are learning about the process of changing laws.

The item is being reviewed by the city’s Ordinances and Rules Committee, and it was read to the City Council on Monday.

The Hawkes family says that if people got to know Plucky, they would understand what a great pet she is.

That said, Sharan Hawkes says that the family still enjoys chicken dinners.

“It’s different when it’s under cellophane,’’ she said, laughing. “But if Plucky was the last chicken on earth, I wouldn’t eat her.’’