Belgium offers chickens to waste-cutting households
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<H1>Belgium offers chickens to waste-cutting households </H1></DIV></TD></TR>
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<P class=first><B>Residents of a Belgian town are to be offered chickens as part of a campaign to reduce household waste.</B>
<P>The town of Mouscron has 50 pairs of chickens that it will distribute to families with sufficient space to keep the birds in their gardens. </P>
<P>Those who take part in the scheme must agree not to eat the chickens for at least two years, or to give them away. </P>
<P>Local officials are stressing that applicants could gain a supply of free, fresh eggs. </P><!-- E SF -->
<P>The town council's environment department is building on the success of a previous distribution of chickens, officials told Belgium's La Derniere Heure. </P>
<P>The aim of the project is to publicise alternative methods of waste management. </P>
<P>Residents included in the project will be given basic instruction on chicken-keeping. </P>