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Backyard Chickens Ruffle Neighbors' Feathers

Low-cost organic egg dispenser, or messy nuisance?

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 15, 2009 1:17 PM CDT

(Newser) – Backyard chickens have polarized the city council of Salem, Ore., as residents argue over whether to legalize keeping the birds in home coops, the Wall Street Journal reports. It’s one of several such disputes around the US, with some extolling the virtues of a source of free eggs and fertilizer for backyard gardening—especially during a recession. But the noisy, messy birds have opponents squawking over lower property values.

"It's silliness," says a Salem real estate broker. "Eggs aren't even that expensive anyway. What's next? Goats? Llamas? Get a farm."

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Tessa Lowinske Desmond holds pet chicken Buffy in her backyard, May 21, 2007, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo)

Pet chickens Big Rig, right, and Buffy roam a backyard in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo)

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It's like she has some underground railroad for chickens. - Alan Scott, of a Salem, Ore., neighbor whose keeping of chickens he opposes

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Backyard Chickens Ruffle Neighbors' Feathers