This is no game of chicken!

Back yard chickens: you either love them or hate them!

In part it is a problem of symbolism, for many an urban chicken coop equates with being fashionable: Brooklyn-hip or Detroit-renaissance-cool.

For others, it’s a serious commitment to the planet: leaving a small carbon footprint and producing your own food.

Last, for people who have more traditional taste and love their well-manicured lawns, chickens in a yard simply means that their residential neighborhood is going to hell in a hand-basket!

I am just having fun here; still, ordinance committees, city councilors and planning boards in Western Massachusetts have had to seriously consider the pro and cons of this trend in order to create regulations that will prevent people from poisoning themselves by having chickens on contaminated soil or in unsanitary conditions. Lawmakers also have to try to avoid animal abuse and cruelty (which might derive from simple inexperience).

Pressure is great, as the Pioneer Valley Backyard Chicken Association has a powerful lobby, as reported in the Masslive news article of Sep 28, 2011.  “With groups like the Pioneer Valley Backyard Chicken Association lobbying for more flexibility, the Zoning Revisions Committee proposed a zoning amendment allowing up to 12 chickens or ducks to be kept for personal use.”

Backyard chickens have become an upper-middle-class phenomenon, as recently stated in an article in the Huffington post: “The first egg will cost you $2000.” It is clear that affluent contingents are pushing their city representatives to facilitate and expand the practice of their hobby.

Northampton and East Hampton city councils and planning boards have been deliberating since 2011 on increasing the number of hens allowed in the yards of single and multi-family homes.

The current regulations can be found in these cities' zoning ordinance rules online.

Chicopee requires a special permit through the board of health for anybody who would like to keep chickens or rabbits

Holyoke still does not allow chicken coops in most of its residential and industrial neighborhoods. Holyoke grounds are far from pristine in every neighborhood except the far west side of the city, which was always rural and less densely populated. Here chickens are free to roam! The Highlands, Oakdale and Church Hill neighborhoods probably have problematic soil due to the high number of houses and buildings that in past years had chipping paint and older peeling asbestos tiles. The Flats and Canals areas have always been industrial and have seen many fires and demolitions, which cause toxic debris to deposit in the soil over the years.

Eastampton, Northampton, Granby and South Hadley were all born as primarily farming communities; hence, the backyard chicken phenomenon seems to fit naturally with the history and traditions of these towns. On the other hand, Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield were cities, and as such they had developed neighborhood that distinctly disassociated from a rural aesthetic or lifestyle. Some of the older residents and baby boomers are still protective of the original feel of their neighborhoods.

It will be interesting to see if this phenomenon will last and if having a coop in your back yard will increase the resale value of a home. For now, it does not.

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