My family and I are devastated that a complaint was made by a neighbor for us having backyard chickens. We have 8 happy hens that we consider to be our pets. They all have names and 5 of them have been with us for over a year now. 

We've lived at our new home in Shorewood IL for 1 year in April 2020. Our property is on over a half acre and we built a beautiful chicken run for them to have space to live a good life. All of our neighbors are well way over 50 feet away from our coop and run. We do not have any roosters in our flock and keep a clean coop for them. 

Our chickens have been a great source of fresh eggs for my family as well as a hobby for us and keeps us happy. My soon to be 6 year old son has learned a great deal of responsibility and helps keep them safe and happy. We collect our eggs, feed them food and refill their water daily. We carry them, pet them and hang out with them always for they bring a lot of joy to our home. 

We are asking that the Village of Shorewood grant us a special ordinance permit to allow us to keep our backyard hens. We hope that we can come to an agreement for our hens and follow examples of guidelines as our neighboring towns such as Plainfield, Joliet, Naperville, New Lenox and even the city of Chicago allows their residents to raise backyard chickens. 

We love our hens as they are family pets to us. Please sign our petition for we are hoping to keep our happy hens at home. 

 Thank you. 

Maximino, Tania and Sheldon

Residents of Shorewood IL.