SALEM LAKES – A backyard chicken ordinance may soon come to roost in the Salem Lakes Code of Ordinances.

Village officials this week directed village staff to draft an ordinance that would regulate how many, where and under what conditions chickens could be kept in residential areas.

Trustee Bill Hopkins asked for the issue to be placed on the agenda for discussion after he learned a rooster was being kept in a cage on a patio in downtown Silver Lake. Officials made it clear they do not want to allow roosters.