GREELEY, Colo. -- Greeley officials are set to vote on whether to allow residents to keep up to six chickens within city limits.

The Greeley City Council will vote on the ordinance Tuesday night after a public hearing.

The new rules would allow residents to keep six chickens in their backyards as long as the animals are kept in ventilated and covered coops. The chickens would also have to be fenced-in at all times.

Selling chickens or eggs would be prohibited.

Proponents view chickens as affectionate and eco-friendly pets. These folks advocate sustainable food sources and like the idea of collecting eggs on their city property.

“They will naturally fertilize, debug and deweed the lawn, but you have to move them every 24 hours. They'll do the same for your garden. And they pay me back in eggs — are you kidding me?” local chicken supporter Dixie Hart told the Greeley Tribune.

Opponents view chickens as smelly nuisances that are unfit for urban areas. These folks often have had previous experience with chickens -- having grown up among them in the country -- and argue that's where fowl belong.

“When I was a kid we raised them … They're dirty, and they have lice and mites, and they attract other birds and hawks and snakes and 'coons and all that. I just think it's not a good idea,” Barbara Rakowski, an opponent of backyard hens told the Tribune.

Durango, Fort Collins and Longmont amended their rules last year to allow backyard chickens.