Laws & Ordinances in Portland, Texas

Apparently our city has a fair number of calls asking about having backyard chickens. I had wanted to have them, but found out fairly quickly unless you have a very square lot and possibly at least 5 acres you might as well kiss your dreams of backyard chickens goodbye. This week in our water bill, for everyone's knowledge, they informed the community that if you want backyard chickens you can have them, but....and it is a really big but....Your coop must be 200 feet away from each property line, and 50 feet from each dwelling that would be slept in. They went on to say that most lots in the city would not be able to meet these requirements. No kidding. Talk about being written to keep this out of our city. Now on the other hand, Austin and Corpus Christi and San Antonio have requirements that are very reasonable. We are now looking for a "Country" house to buy so that we can have chickens and a garden. Our city is also asking people in our community to report each other if your neighbor's grass gets to high. I hope we find a little Country home soon.

I am hoping that I might be able to get these changed, but now the ordinances are now requiring all houses that are to be built have at least 3 sides of brick and on and on it goes. They are even telling businesses how many trees must be planted per parking spaces that they have..Oh my....I love my home, but right now it is not fitting our dreams very well.

Don't give up. Laws CAN be changed! Are there any other supporters in your area? Is this something you feel strong enough about to bring a proposal for change to your local town board?

I am trying to find all the other people who are calling in. They are now annexing what used to be considered out of the city limits and surely this will affect some that already have chickens. I am hoping to put together some type of presentation and maybe enlist the help of the County Ag agent.

I live in the middle of no where far away from any city lines. Are my chickens covered under the free range laws? They are mostly always in my yard but they went into my neighbors yard ( weeds over my head). I have all of my chickens kept up now but if my chickens were to wander into their yard again would they be covered under the law? Also, their dog has come over and killed 5 of my chickens in my yard and keeps trying to get into the chicken coop. Is there a law against that?

Most states have laws that cover dogs attacking livestock, and in most cases a dog that is attacking off the dog's owner's property can be shot. In some cases the dog has to be actively attacking; in others, it simply has to have attacked. So you need to find out all state, county and city/town ordinances and code that applies to where you live. Almost everywhere has a leash law that requires dogs to be under their owner's control, and does not allow them to run loose. In some places there are exceptions for cats, but in others, all animals are covered. Free ranging is on your own property, not on your neighbor's. Open range is something you find in areas of the west, and applies to livestock such as cattle; not to chickens.

I live in a Houston suburb where chickens are illegal. I talked to my neighbors (fellow republicans who also believe the city has no right to tell me whether I can or can't have hens in my own private space) about the possiblity of getting them beforehand and they were all about it. I went ahead and got the hens and give the entire neighborhood free eggs each month. Funny how easy a bribe of silence can be

When the law fails, just do what you want. As long as your neighbors are reasonable people and you get quiet breeds, you should be fine.

You need to check out the Chicken Law Bill in this forum for Texas. Call the Senator and the Governor. If the "Chicken Bill" gets in the special session and passes, your cities bill goes out the door! Call!