City's chicken ordinance ruffling feathers

NORWALK, Iowa, May 23 (UPI) -- At least one resident of Norwalk, Iowa, says a new ordinance that allows residents to keep chickens in residential areas is ill-advised.

Norwalk resident Bev Frideres said she is completely against the ordinance passed by the Norwalk City Council Thursday, saying chickens are not advisable residents for an urban area, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register said Saturday.

"I'm baffled that we're even considering chickens within city limits," Frideres said. "We're an urban area, not agricultural. We're trying to be part of the metropolitan area that is close to Des Moines. I simply do not want smelly, stinky chickens anywhere in the city area."

But Councilman Alexander Grgurich defended the council's passage of the ordinance by a 3-2 vote, saying legal ownership of chickens is being embraced by more and more cities nationwide.

The new ordinance will not allow roosters to be kept in residential areas of Norwalk, likely due in part to the animal's loud crowing abilities.