Kicker: Calling fowl

NICK EICHER, HOST: Here’s a story not about big-brother government, more like Mother Hen government.

Seems the city council in Des Moines, Iowa, ruffled some feathers when it moved to limit the number of chickens that could be kept in residential neighborhoods.

Well, now the chickens—and those who love them—have come home to roost.

AUDIO: Alright it’s eight o’clock.

So they got going early, hatched a public protest, kept the clucking to a minimum, but reminded the public officials that voters are atop the pecking order. We the people rule the roost.

Of course, there’s nothing worse than when a powerful interest group gets madder than a wet hen, and it had council members walking on eggshells.

So, the council directed a city manager to scratch out a compromise and avoid the city, you guessed it, having egg on its face.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.