Man Hopes New Board Members Give a Cluck about Chickens in La Grange

“La Grange” may mean “barn” in French, but it’s not too friendly a place for feathered farm animals.

Jeff Cogelja is on a mission to change that.

Cogelja plans to continue his fight to amend the village code to allow chickens in La Grange by standing Monday night before the newly shaped Village Board.

“I’m hoping with a new president and one new board member maybe the odds will be on my side this time,” he said.

Cogelja housed four hens in a backyard chicken coop last year for seven months before the board forced him to send his birds elsewhere in November.

Trustees said that they didn’t like the image chickens projected for La Grange.

“That’s such a bunch of crap,” Cogelja said. “It’s not like it degrades the village. We’re not talking a farm. We’re talking a few little hens.”

Former Village President Liz Asperger said during an October board meeting that trustees polled their neighbors and received a “considerably negative” response. Residents worried about noise, odor and disease, among other issues, she said.

“There were lots of reasons given … they relate some to what are likely realities and some that are simply perception,” Asperger said. “The most important fact that has swayed the majority of our board is that the majority of the feedback individuals received was negative. “

Other board members thought it wasn’t worth the time and effort needed to enact a new ordinance. Two trustees supported researching the issue further.

But according to Cogelja, he’s not the only La Grange resident who’s part of the pro-poultry movement. Four or five other homeowners play host to contraband chickens, he said.

The hens made very little noise in his yard, Cogelja said, and neither smelled nor harbored disease. (“You’re more likely to get a disease from a bird dropping its poo in your backyard than from my chickens that are in a coop,” he said.)

Cogelja gathered about 340 signatures on a petition over the holidays but fell shy of the 500 needed to get a referendum on the April ballot.

If the new board refuses to open discussion on an ordinance, Cogelja said he’ll try again. His high-school age daughter adamantly wants him to continue his pursuit, for one thing.

Raising chickens for fresh eggs also fits into the family’s overall goal of sustainable living—they compost or recycle nearly everything, throwing out one can of garbage every two weeks, and maintain an organic garden that includes both flowers and vegetables.

Cogelja hasn’t seen his four hens in the seven months since the village nixed the arrangement.

A woman who lives in Lisle took in the chickens and established a relationship akin to an open adoption—Cogelja can visit anytime he wants, and if La Grange ever changes its ordinances, he can bring the birds back home.

But seeing them at this point is just too emotional, he said.

“I actually got really attached,” he said. “I raised them from day-old chicks. I want to go, and at the same time, it’s hard to go because if something happened to them…” Cogelja was silent for a beat.

“I think about them all the time,” he said, “especially because the chicken coop is still in my backyard.”