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Urban farmer headed back to court

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ROSWELL, Ga., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- A Georgia man who has twice won lawsuits trying to force him to get rid of chickens in his back yard said he is again going to court to defend his birds.

Andrew Wordes, 52, who has 43 chickens, 18 roosters and four pot-bellied pigs living in his Roswell back yard, said he is headed back to court in March to face a nuisance ordinance related to his poultry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday.

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Wordes was originally cited under a city ordinance against keeping chickens in 2009, but a judge threw out the ordinance for being too vaguely worded. The city passed a new chicken ordinance and again tried to prosecute him, but the judge said he was exempt because he had his backyard farm before the rule was adopted.

Wordes said he has been repeatedly targeted by the city, including receiving nine traffic tickets in the space of a year.

"They're hammering me because I won't do what they want me to do, and it all started with winning the chicken case," Wordes said.

Roswell city spokeswoman Julie Brechbill said officials are not targeting Wordes and code enforcement is the result of citizen complaints.

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