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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado preschools are fighting to get their chickens back after the state Department of Public Health and Environment banned children younger than 5 from handling live poultry and other animals.
KMGH-TV reports (http://bit.ly/1PRdskJ ) that preschool centers with chickens, reptiles or amphibians have until August to comply with the ban.
According to the Dept. of Public Health, five children were hospitalized in Colorado last year for Salmonella after being exposed to baby chicks.
More than a dozen schools around the state have chickens at their facilities. An online petition calling for a repeal of the ban has garnered more than 1,500 signatures.
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Information from: KMGH-TV, http://www.thedenverchannel.com
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