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Backyard Chickens Get to Stay in Mayfield

MAYFIELD — A man in Lackawanna County has won his fight to keep his backyard chickens. Mayfield has changed the law when it comes to chickens, allowing hi...
lacka chickens

MAYFIELD -- A man in Lackawanna County has won his fight to keep his backyard chickens.

Mayfield has changed the law when it comes to chickens, allowing him and others to have them, if they follow certain rules.

This is just the latest community in our area to have a "chicken fight," and in this case, the chicken owner won.

Barbie, Buffie, and Rhonda are the chickens that don't have to fly the coop. It's a big change from a few months ago when Mayfield told their owner, Dennis McLain, they had to go.

"Frustrated, heartbroken, same thing all kinds of different emotions, that's for sure," said McLain.

McLain won the bird battle to change the law in Mayfield. Borough council passed a new ordinance this week that allows backyard chickens.

Only hens are allowed, not much noisier roosters.

"They've become pets because they're here," McClain said. "We see them every day. We bring them our food waste, our scraps so there's a lot less going into my garbage, and it's all composted and turned into fertilizer.

That's how McLain first got interested in the chickens several years ago.  They eat the McLain family food scraps and he uses their waste as compost in his extensive vegetable gardens.

An added bonus from his chickens is fresh eggs, but the ordinance now says they can't be sold.

The new rules for chickens in Mayfield dictate the size and structure of the pens allowed for the birds, but it also requires those who have the chickens to get permission from their neighbors.

"I see them all the time. I like them," said neighbor Thomas Howells. "They sit on your lap, eat out of your hands, I like them."

Howells lives right next door and supported McLain's effort and his chickens. A lot of neighbors did.

McLain spent $600 in legal fees on this fowl fight that he, Barbie, Buffie, and Rhonda won.

"The response from everybody was positive so it just kept moving forward and here we are," McClain added.

The new Mayfield ordinance covers many other animals -- including a ban on exotic animals such as lions and tigers -- but chickens are allowed.

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