Too bad the "but-eating pet" loophole did not work.

But what is the objection to keeping chickens "for any purpose"?  Because they (allegedly) make a lot of noise?  Do they, in reality?  In a spacious Western city, is the crowing of a rooster really a huge problem?

Some dogs bark a lot, and many parrots squawk abominably.  (In fact, the keeping of parrots SHOULD be illegal, but not on account of the noise they make.)  And yet there is no ban on them, to my knowledge.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Then who's to say whether or not the home owner is really liable for the chicken, right?  I certainly can't claim any responsibility for the sparrows, crows or occasional duck that has been known to make a nest in my yard...  

What does this have to do with the Oregon Capital?

then we are all doomed. A handful of people riding their bikes half of the year will just not cut it when considering our excessive energy use. When you factor in the entire Portland metro area, the few hundred bikes in Southeast Portland really becomes insignificant. Add in the open hostility on the part of the operators of the fossil-fool powered wheelchairs and you can understand how even life-long cyclists who have moved to Portland have given up using bikes as their primary means of transportation.

On the topic of urban gardening, ducks make much more sense than chickens (assuming codes can be changed out of the dark ages). Chickens dig up everything in sight so one needs to either cage the plants or cage the birds, which is cruel. Ducks, on the other hand, don't dig and they much prefer slugs and snails to most other foods. Ducks will walk down rows of produce and just suck the pests right off the stalks. Also, except when mating, ducks are extraordinarily quiet birds so you will get fewer complaints from neighbors. If you can acclimate yourself to the stronger flavored eggs, most ducks are also more prolific layers than all but the heaviest-laying buffs.