Melanie Lekocevic is reporting for Capital Region Independent Media after much community conversation and deliberation, the Coeymans Town Board unanimously adopted a new local law that permits residents to keep a maximum of six hens and no roosters in the hamlet. No farm animals are allowed. The purpose of the Farm Animals [slash] Chickens in the Hamlet Local Law No. 12 "...is to regulate the conditions for the keeping of farm animals or fowl so as to protect the residents of the town...from nuisance and to maintain compatibility with suburban life,” town board member Daniel Baker read from the law, October 22. A permit must be acquired from the town’s building department to keep and maintain a chicken coop. Chicken owners who already have hens and existing coops have up to 180 days to comply with the new law; anyone with roosters has up to 30 days to comply. Chicken owners must have a clean, covered and well-ventilated enclosure that is maintained, and the hens must be kept in the covered enclosure or within a fenced area at all times. Each hen must have at least four square feet of living space and scattering food on the ground is not allowed. Residents found to be in violation the law can be fined $150 for a first offense and $300 for a second, and a third offense can lead to the revocation of a resident's hen permit. Read the full story in The Ravena News-Herald.