Hayden: Cock-a-doodle won't do

HAYDEN - Call it what it really is. It's sex discrimination.

According to its agenda for tonight's meeting, the Hayden City Council is scheduled to take action to clarify a city ordinance dealing with chickens.

Chickens are OK in the city, the ordinance says. What needs to be clarified is that roosters will not be among these welcomed domesticated fowl.

The males are simply too boisterous, with their familiar early morning "cock-a-doodle-doo."

Hayden City Administrator Stefan Chatwin said the city receives a couple calls per year complaining about rooster noise in the city. Sometimes it's just one complaint per year.

"We don't get a lot" of upset neighbors complaining, Chatwin said. "It's not really a big problem. Of course, it's a problem for a next-door neighbor who has to listen to it."

So the rooster crowing, however limited it already is in the city, will now officially be banned.

Technically, the ordinance will clarify that the term "chicken" is limited to hens. Leaving no room for doubt about the city's intentions, the ordinance will read, "Roosters are not allowed."

Chickens are allowed on properties of one acre and larger, as long as the hens are corralled in a securely fenced and irrigated area.