Duck owner runs afoul of city's fowl limits

A Kalispell ordinance that prohibits some livestock inside the city limits is running afoul of a Tenth Avenue West resident who said the city has told her to get rid of her ducks.

Diane Groves told the City Council on Monday that a police officer, prompted by a neighborhood complaint, came to her home with a copy of the livestock ordinance on Oct. 3.

She said that her next-door neighbor likes the ducks and even bought a water heater for their pool, adding that she sells eggs to several people as a small source of income.

“[The officer] said he didn’t know who the neighbor was or what the complaint was but that it didn’t matter because ducks are against the city ordinance,” Groves told council members during the public comment portion of Monday’s meeting.

“He also said he would confirm the fact that [the ducks] were so quiet he had to look around the backyard just to be sure they were there.”

According to Groves, the city told her she has until Nov. 3 to get rid of her ducks.

Groves asked the council to review the livestock ordinance, which does allow people to keep chickens — up to 15 hens but no roosters.

She said the ordinance should be amended to allow “poultry,” including ducks, which lay eggs with more protein than chicken eggs, “have good dispositions” and “help the environment by eating insects, mosquitoes and slugs.”

Groves told the council she also keeps chickens and purchased the ducks thinking there was not much difference between the two.

Council members agreed to stay any action on the alleged violation pending a review of the livestock ordinance, which was passed last November.

“She doesn’t have to lose her ducks until we further review that ordinance,” council member Jim Atkinson said.

The ordinance prohibits livestock in general inside the city limits but also grants several exceptions besides chickens. People can keep up to two pygmy goats or potbellied pigs as household pets and up to one horse per acre of fenced pasture.

No exceptions are made in the ordinance for fowl other than chickens.

Such issues are expected since Kalispell has changed from a rural area to a more urban area, and the exceptions for some animals and not others put the council in somewhat of a bind, City Attorney Charles Harball said.

“Will they now allow ducks? What do they say about guinea hens, geese and peacocks, or do we just say fowl in general ... They’re kind of paying the price for being good with chickens in town,” Harball said.

“In the meantime, we’ll let the complaining neighbor know council is discussing this and have a workshop to see if they want to broaden it or not.”

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.