omg! have my chickens almost 4 yrs!

[onecent]

ok, i knew this day would come, but for me too soon, animal control came this morning, not because of my neighbors, or any smells not even because of my roos! but , because of a disturbance in the neighborhood,with a drunk young man at 4:00am, a new nosey cop noticed i had chickens and told the dispatch to send animal control first thing in the morning! which they did, now animal control told me i have a week to get rid of my chickens! the A.C officer said i took real good care of my chickens, and he hated to do this to me, but he had to follow the law, im in the city but its more rural where i am, Please, what can i do? i called the city manager, but hes in a meeting, and is supposed to call me back, what should i say? i am so heart broken! i love my chickens! im in Halifax county, N.C

 

[valereee]

First, figure out what the laws are. Call your county government office and ask whoever answers the phone where you can search the ordinances -- if it's online, search it for references to animals, livestock, chickens, poultry, fowl, structures, enclosures, accessory uses. See what it says. If it isn't online, ask the person how you can look at a copy of the ordinances regarding chickens. If he/she doesn't know, as if there's a code compliance officer you can speak to.

 

[onecent]

i had called county extention, he told me that to his knowledge there wernt really any laws about chickens, ok, so i thought i was good, so later on i called the city, and the person who answered the phone said absolutely no chickens in the city.....except a few people who have them that are "grandfathered"in???? now, also animal control said that this grandfather thing was in 1976, so people still have chickens since then? im still waiting for the city manager to call me, ......also nothing on line about this so i wait....

 

[valereee]

The 'grandfathering' probably means that people who had chickens in 1976 are still allowed to but no one who didn't have chickens then would have been allowed to. Don't wait for people to call you back. Find the ordinances and/or zoning codes. If people were grandfathered, that probably means it's in the zoning codes and land usage codes. Call the city and as for a code compliance officer. The city manager is just going to refer you to that person.

 

[onecent]

OK, he called me back, he asked if my chickens were in a pen or a cage, i told him yes, and they have a very neat & clean coop, he said they were more worried about them running loose than anything else, i told him i have standard size & small bantam size, i asked him if i found homes for the standard ones would he allow me to keep a few of my small bantams & they are silkies, he said he would see what he could do for me, he told me he didnt see why it would be a problem for me to keep them, being i have had them almost 4 yrs. without a complaint, but,...he could not give me a 100% guarantee, but it still sounds promising, he asked for my address, so i guess he will come and see them for his self........ ill be praying!

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

Hoping it all works out for you. How terrifying!

 

[onecent]

Oh thank you very much!!!

its a nightmare, i pray no one has to go through this!

 

[Joz]

What town? Look here to find your zoning ordinances (if they're online)

http://www.municode.com/library/library.aspx

I couldn't find Halifax Co NC, but it may be listed differently...?

 

[DIMBY]

Call your local - or nearest - newspaper! Local newspapers have been very interested and supportive of us backyard chickeneers. Some good publicity might help you.

 

[the simple life]

Good luck with all that. I hope it works out for you, it sounds like it might.
Do you really have the 50 cats you mention in your signature line? If thats true I would imagine that would be more of a concern than the chickens?