To the Readers' Forum:
Laying hens are cleaner, quieter and easier to care for than most dogs. In fact, five well-kept hens will produce less smell and mess than one medium-sized dog, while providing the additional perks of delicious, nutritious eggs and easily composted, high-nitrogen manure. So it is ironic that the very governments that once declared that keeping a few backyard chickens was every American's patriotic duty, now go to great lengths to prevent ordinary folk from having them.
In recent years, urban centers from Seattle to Orlando have changed their zoning laws to accommodate backyard chickens. I strongly encourage Falconer and other WNY communities with similarly restrictive codes to do the same.
Leigh A. Meyers
Randolph