'Free hens' bid to cut rubbish bill

VILLAGERS in a Sarthe commune are to be given a pair of chickens to peck away at their rubbish bills.

Councillors in Pincé, Pays-de-la-Loire, were discussing the budget for rubbish collection when they spotted an article saying chickens could eat between 150 and 250kg each a year.

Then they hatched a plan to use chickens to reduce the amount of organic waste - bread, cheese rinds, vegetable peelings etc - and, perhaps, cut the rubbish bill.

Now each villager is being offered two laying hens and deputy mayor Nicole Foucault told Ouest France hens could lay between 250 and 300 eggs a year, so it meant residents could "cut their rubbish and have fresh eggs nearly every day".

Mayor Lydie Pasteau said it would also help bring the community together: "In the village we find ways to look after each other's houses during the holidays, now we will just have to include feeding the neighbour's chickens as well!"