N.J. town limits chicken hookups

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey town has adopted an ordinance that regulates when chickens and roosters can hook up in backyard henhouses.

Roosters must show they're disease-free and they better not crow about their conquests.

Hopewell Township residents can have up to a half-dozen hens on half-acre lots. Roosters would be allowed only 10 days a year for fertilization purposes.

Mature roosters are not allowed because they're too noisy. Any roosters that crow too long can be banned from the property for two years.

Mayor Jim Burd told The Times of Trenton the ordinance is a compromise between today's lifestyle and the township's agricultural history.

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