Hello all! Okay, so I'm very ignorant on this matter so please don't scoff at my stupidity. I have bought three chickens, meaning for them to be hens, but I believe one of them is a rooster. Much to my dismay
Anyways, I just wanted to see if I have inadvertently become a chicken outlaw. I live in a farmy community in Massachusetts. There is a farm right down the street with roosters, and many very obnoxious peafowl (they sound like screaming cats, no joke). I also live next to a daycare where I am blessed with hearing screaming children and barking dogs (this is sarcasm). Apparently, there is a deed on my property restricting livestock. I sort of ignored this, as I plan on treating these little guys as pets. But I was just doing some research on my town's by-laws and came across a "Right to Farm Act" of sorts. it says,
Quote: ... So I'm a jurisdictional area in the town, right? So doesn't that mean I'm aloud to have poultry? It also defines a "farm" as
Quote:
Production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural, floricultural, viticultural, or horticultural commodities.
...
Keeping and raising of poultry... for food and other agricultural purposes...
So, I have a garden... I cultivate all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Does that make me a farm by this definition? Meaning I have a right to keep chickens? I feel like my brain is about to explode.
I've already asked my neighbors if it was okay to raise chickens before I got them, just not about the whole crowing situation. Advice would be most welcome.
Anyways, I just wanted to see if I have inadvertently become a chicken outlaw. I live in a farmy community in Massachusetts. There is a farm right down the street with roosters, and many very obnoxious peafowl (they sound like screaming cats, no joke). I also live next to a daycare where I am blessed with hearing screaming children and barking dogs (this is sarcasm). Apparently, there is a deed on my property restricting livestock. I sort of ignored this, as I plan on treating these little guys as pets. But I was just doing some research on my town's by-laws and came across a "Right to Farm Act" of sorts. it says,
Quote: ... So I'm a jurisdictional area in the town, right? So doesn't that mean I'm aloud to have poultry? It also defines a "farm" as
Quote:
Production, cultivation, growing, and harvesting of any agricultural, floricultural, viticultural, or horticultural commodities.
...
Keeping and raising of poultry... for food and other agricultural purposes...
So, I have a garden... I cultivate all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Does that make me a farm by this definition? Meaning I have a right to keep chickens? I feel like my brain is about to explode.
I've already asked my neighbors if it was okay to raise chickens before I got them, just not about the whole crowing situation. Advice would be most welcome.
