Roswell Man Wins Chicken Fight; Keeps Birds

A Roswell man won his chicken fight with the city Thursday.

Roswell Municipal Court Judge Maurice H. Hilliard Jr. ruled that Andrew Wordes can keep his flock of chickens in the back yard of his Roswell home.

City zoning officials cited Wordes in February for raising chickens in a residential area.

Wordes said he ruffled the feathers of a former employee who turned him in to Roswell Animal Control.

"And then she called the City of Roswell code enforcement reported that I had chickens that weren't allowed in Roswell," Wordes told Channel 2 Action News reporter Diana Davis.

DIANA DAVIS: Roswell Man Fights To Keep Chickens

Wordes said he's raised the chickens in the back yard of his home in his Roswell subdivision for about four years with no complaints from neighbors.

"They leave egg cartons on my door with their name on them so if I have extra eggs, I put them in there and give them back to them," said Wordes.

He said he likes farm fresh eggs for health reasons.

"Now those are good eggs," he said.

The Roswell city attorney argued the code doesn't allow for poultry in residential areas. Wordes and the mayor of Roswell believe it does and Judge Hilliard agreed.

"They are allowed. I've read the code, Mayor Wood has read the code, and we both came up with the same thing -- that chickens are allowed in Roswell.

Wordes said his chickens are not livestock, they're his pets. He said they are not a public nuisance and they're clean.

"I have more dirt in my front yard from my neighbors who walk their dogs up and down the street than I do in my back yard from my chickens," he said.