However, in a blatant act of sex discrimination, the city council flatly refused to allow residents to raise roosters, despite cries of foul from early-risers.
Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke, a rustic immigrant from an Iowa farm, led the chicken faction. He and his kids will now keep a full limit of egg-laying hens in their own backyard. "It's educational," the progressive mayor crowed.
Meanwhile, in nearby upscale Lakeville, a hard-boiled planning commission unanimously said "No" to city chickens and their kind.
A zoning action to restrict hens to the edge of town, a so-called "chicken strip," died as well.
Concerned about possible odors and coyote incursions, St. Paul-raised Kathleen Rolfsrud isn't so sure about Shakopee's decision. She had no warning that the chickens are coming, but has no plans to protest.
She gets her eggs from the store and will continue to do so. Her daughters have encouraged her to select the "free range" variety. . . you know, the brownish ones from the happier flocks. So far, her biggest issue with eggs is getting the fry cook at the Canterbury grill to fix them "over medium" without leaving a runny egg white.
"How can hens lay eggs if there is no rooster?" she asked incredulously after reading the news.
Her rural husband, who once raised 100 summer chickens to butcher and can in the fall, will explain.
