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Solution to Chicken Fight in Barre

East Barre, Vermont - October 6, 2009

A backyard chicken farm in Barre has some neighbors at their wits end.

They say the constant crowing of roosters keeps them up at night, and now the town is trying to take control.

From just a few chickens, to nearly 100 it's fair to say Kathy Rubacalba's backyard farm has exploded.

"Clearly this wasn't supposed to happen on a quarter acre," she said.

The farm on Church Street was supposed to be the start of Rubacalba's business, "Layed in Vermont".

She hopes it will be Vermont's first chick hatchery.

"I just wanted a few chickens and then I was kind of thinking about okay I really like chickens and this is fun and I really love hatching and what can I do with this?" said Rubacalba.

As she searches for land to expand her fledgling farm, Rubacalba's backyard operation has grown to include 30 roosters.

Neighbors complain the noise is too much to handle.

"I mean I get woken up 4 o'clock, sometimes 3 o'clock in the morning," said Ernie Parsons.

They also complain of the smell.

The state's agency of agriculture granted Rubacalba a variance that allows her to store the chicken manure on her property, even though it violates the 100 foot setback in state law.

"When the chicken manure dries up it actually turns into dust, and then when the wind starts it blows it everywhere," said Parsons. 

The ag agency nearly revoked that variance, but Tuesday morning they reached an agreement that the manure will now be trucked elsewhere.

The town has issued several noise violations against Rubacalba...and told her to get rid of all but one rooster.

She wants to keep three.

"I think people should raise chickens, livestock and any kind of animals wherever they live," said Rubacalba.

Most of the roosters are already scheduled for slaughter Wednesday morning, and Rubacalba plans to patch things up with neighbors by holding a rooster roast BBQ this weekend.

Bianca Slota - WCAX-TV