While several northwest Arkansas cities ban households from raising chickens, some cities continue to allow the animals.

Springdale outlawed chickens in residential subdivisions in 1999. Both Bentonville and Fayetteville also have laws making it illegal to raise chickens and ducks.

Even cities that allow poultry to be raised at home, such as Rogers, often have some limits. Rogers allows chickens, but has a four-hen limit. Roosters are illegal in Rogers. Green Forest bans roosters, too.

Green Forest resident Jess Cooper paid for radio advertisements encouraging other residents to ban the birds. He says he had a neighbor with chickens, geese, ducks, rabbits and hens.

In Springdale, Mario and Catalina Guerra have four chickens and a rooster. A neighbor complained to the city about the rooster, leading the family to promise to get rid of the bird.

But Mario Guerra says there was no discussion about the hens. Guerra says having a dog that barks at night is far worse for neighbors than owning a few chickens.

     
      (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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