What Readers Are Saying About Chickens in New Baltimore

The conversation in New Baltimore turned fowl this week, as .

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Among city officials concerns: Chickens could create food-borne illnesses, loud noises, declining property values and attract rats that carry disease.

Longtime resident and former Councilman John Dupray, who raised and slaughtered chickens as a teen, told council "if you have chickens, you have chicken feed. If you have chicken feed, you have rats. If you have rats, you have diseases. That's a fact," Dupray said.

Here's what readers say on our Facebook page

Would you mind if your neighbors kept chickens in their backyard? Tell us why or why not.

• Linda Manning Martin I would not like it personally due to noise. Many sub home owners associations would not allow them either.
• Jennifer Deska Chesney I would love to have them. 
• Abbie Smith It would have been fair to at least let those in outlying areas of N.B. have hens if they wish. We never hear much more than a playful bawk out of our hens in Chesterfield (roosters are the loud ones, and since they don't lay eggs we don't own any!). Our feed is in airtight containers and chickens are locked in coop at night to avoid unwanted predators. And Mr. Dupray wants to argue disease? Does he realize the health difference in backyard hens compared to the commercial layers that we buy eggs from in the stores? Ick...
• Sabrina McKenney Wouldn't mind hens in a chicken coupe. My dog on the other hand........
• Jaclyn Guzzo I didn't think (Chesterfield) allowed it. Happy to find out they do! I say let the ppl vote. I personally wouldn't mind and the eggs are 100 times better than any "organic" "free rage" store bought ones. 
• Debbie Geering Rankin I do mind, my neighbor has them and they roam, droppings all over. They DO NOT stay in their own yard and might I add the darn rooster scares the beans out of me every morning standing at my porch waiting for me!
• Tamara Ragon-Gamble I do mind. Chicken dropping release histoplasmosis and other airborne particles that cause respiratory illnesses. The chicken feed brings rats given that scraps are left behind. Not to mention the chicken houses are often the places that rats hide. If someone would like to raise chickens then perhaps they should move to a rural area so that it does not affect their neighbors health. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/267196/histoplasmosis

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.