Allowing backyard chickens to be housed inside city limits was the topic of discussion during a community discussion at The Excelsior Springs listening post. Local resident Trevor Gritton presented the pros and cons of owning chickens in urban areas based on a person’s agricultural experience. Gritton said backyard chickens make excellent pets, provide educational experiences and results in ability to eat healthier chickens since owners will know where their food came from, as well as food dependency. “I know many people were affected by the egg shortage,” he said. “It’s interesting to see the food dependency from the inside and how it doesn’t affect us when we are growing our own food.” He explained eggs from the grocery store are produced by chickens who live in a one cubic foot cage their whole life and never see sunlight. “There are hen houses with 1,000s of birds packed into those hen houses,” he said. “Antibiotics are given to those chickens as a preventative, and it’s easy…