I have really enjoyed reading all the responses in this thread! I don't think I've laughed this hard in quite awhile!
In general, I've found that rude and mean-spirited people are just going to be that way, no matter what you say. I try to stay away from people like that, as much as I can and leave them to their own unhappy lives.
Everyone here already knows this, but disparaging remarks about chickens, like disparaging remarks about dogs, usually stem from a bad owner. All dogs are not vicious, all dogs do not bark all day and night, all dogs do not run loose causing trouble.
If a coop stinks, then the owner is doing something wrong. It needs to be cleaned or more litter/carbon added to a deep litter system, which is managed a bit like a cooler compost pile. If a rooster is mean enough to be attacking people who are doing nothing to provoke him, he needs to be confined, not running loose. (I realize that unless he's part of a breeding program, he is sometimes confined to a stew pot.) As for tearing up the yard, well, they are chickens! People don't expect to have goats or horses or sheep without needing to use some fencing, why would chickens be any different? They eat a lot of the same things, whether they are supposed to, or not.
