Austin is Paying Residents to Keep Chicken Coops in Their Backyards

Residents of Austin are getting an interesting opportunity. The city recently announced plans to begin issuing rebates to residents to attend chicken maintenance courses and keep chicken coops in their backyards.

Residents who choose to participate in the program can receive a $75 rebate check from the city. According to KVUE, the new incentive is part of the city's lofty goal to eliminate waste. By 2040, Austin hopes to reduce waste that goes to a landfill by 90 percent.

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If you are wondering why chickens can help with this goal, the city says that it's all about recycling scrap food. Not only do chickens recycle your food scraps, but they provide you with eggs and create healthy soil. This is all information that the city covers in their "chicken keeping class," which you must take before you can get the rebate.

One concern that many residents probably have over this new program is the noise. We tend to think of animals, chickens in particular, as being rather noisy. However, Fox7 reports that this isn't necessarily the case. Most of the time, those raising chickens for egg production reasons have hens, which do not make as much noise as roosters since they don't crow.

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