Via a new ordinance, Nashua city officials hope they can avoid answering an age-old question:

“Why did the chicken cross the road?”

The measure, proposed by Alderwoman at Large Shoshanna Kelly, would allow residents to own and raise chickens for their own use throughout the city. Current law forbids this in most areas of Nashua.

“The intent is for the chickens to be for the sole enjoyment of the people who live on the land,” Kelly told our reporter.

As written, the ordinance would ensure there would be no roosters crowing to awaken residents in the morning because only female chickens would be permitted.

Furthermore, the new law would:

Limit the number of female chickens to six;

Prohibit the chickens from roaming free;

Forbid the sale of eggs and chicken breeding;

Require that chickens are kept in a coop during non-daylight hours;

Establish the minimum dimensions for said coop;

Mandate that manure is “covered by a fully enclosed structure or container;” and

Require dead chickens to be promptly removed from the property.

There are plenty of steps before this ordinance would become law, but Kelly hopes it will pass by spring so families can adopt chickens if they so choose.

We are not sure how many residents would like to keep chickens, nor are we certain how many chickens may already dwell in Nashua. We do, however, see wisdom in establishing guidelines for them.

Most of the current provisions of the ordinance seem reasonable. We hope they are enough to keep both city leaders and residents from crying “fowl.”