I encourage the Portland City Council to support the proposed ordinance to allow backyard chickens. I understand the vote is Feb. 18, and I hope the measure passes unanimously. Our family has had backyard chickens and it was a great experience for many reasons: we enjoyed fresh organic eggs and shared them with our friends and neighbors, we wasted less as we fed our fruit and vegetable peelings and cores, stale bread and other vegetable waste to the chickens, the birds ate lots of insects, their waste provided rich fertilizer, and our whole family enjoyed feeling like we had a little slice of the country in our backyard. Our neighbors were enthusiastic supporters of the project, some even bringing their compostables over to feed the chickens, and our quiet, contained, odor-free birds were good neighbors. I can see no downside for the city in permitting city residents to keep a reasonable number of hens. In fact, the city should be championing the proposal and encouraging such a green choice by its residents.