Fair Lawn Homeowner Says He Won't Get Rid Of Roosters And Chickens Despite Complaints

FAIR LAWN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A Garden State suburb is playing host to a chicken fight as neighbors cry "fowl" over a couple's backyard farm.

Now, some are saying that one big bird just has to go.

There is crowing and there is a nuisance crowing. The distinction between the two depends on who you ask surrounding the backyard full of chickens, cats, dogs and a fully-grown rooster named "Samson" in Fair Lawn.

"I think its humorous. I think it's hysterical," Paul Holmstrup told CBS 2's Derricke Dennis on Monday night.

1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reports

"He adds a beautiful, bucolic sound to the neighborhood and he makes us laugh," added neighbor Joan Goldstein.

Samson is a bit of a neighborhood celebrity -- grazing quietly and in full view one minute and waking up Todd Snyder's 2-year-old the next.

"They used to have the coop right here, and my son's window is right next to it," Snyder said.

Some said the rooster adds even more character to the wooded enclave.

"Having a rooster crow a couple of times every hour is so nothing to us," Steven Goldstein said.

However, the bird apparently did attack Lois-Ann Horowitz after getting out of a makeshift fence, which was a gate held by a rubber band.

"It scratched me. I was really nervous. I didn't know what they do or don't carry," she said. "I had to get a tetanus shot."

The homeowner and rooster owner, Mark Berman, said there is nothing to crow about overnight.

"There is no crowing at night. The rooster actually sleeps inside at night," he said.

Berman has had his pet rooster for about three years, rounding out a family of chickens raised for their fresh eggs. He said he takes issue with the term "nuisance," since the town has found no health or noise threat.

Neighbors said there's an occasional smell and a loophole in the town's books that doesn't cover chickens and roosters.

Even with the neighborhood so divided, Berman said he has no plans to get rid of the animals anytime soon.

The homeowner said Fair Lawn health inspectors and building code officials have responded to complaints at his house, but each time have found no serious violations.

Do you think the rooster is problematic or not?  Share your thoughts in the comments section below...