Welcome New Section: Local Chicken Laws & Ordinances!

[nuthoney]

We live in Suisun City in Solano County, CA which is a suburb of SF. Much to our chagrin, we unexpectedly received an ordinance violation notice yesterday, stating that we are to get rid of our chickens immediately because they are a nuisance (which they are not--there are only 3 of them, we keep them clean, they are quiet, and they stay in our yard--unlike other pets in our neighborhood). This was a shock to us, as we had checked the local ordinances prior to getting the chickens and we are either on cordial or friendly terms with our surrounding neighbors. We will arrange to speak with the code officer this week and will see where that takes us.

I am making the following post in hopes of: (1) finding others who keep chickens and/or share our love for them in Suisun City; and (2) to pass on some information for those considering keeping chickens in Suisun.

In my opinion, the Suisun municipal code as it pertains to keeping chickens, is poorly drafted, vague and ambiguous. This is the link to the code if anyone is interested (it is currently down, of course): http://www.municode.com/Resources/ClientCode_List.asp?cn=Suisun%20City&sid=5&cid=4528

The sections of interest which I interpret as being pro-chicken, are found in 6.050.20 "Certain animal prohibited in city on less than one-acre lots" (note that this section does not list chicken or poultry as an excluded animal); 6.05.060 "Rabbits and fowl--runnning at large" (as pertinent here, it states that "no person . . . shall permit any chickens . . . to run or fly at large or go upon the premises of any other person in the city"--in other words, the code does contemplate people keeping chickens; they just can't be a nuisance by trespassing onto someone else's property); and 6.05.092 "Permitted number of any species" (check this out--"It is unlawful for anyone to keep, board or harbor more than three of any species of animal or FOWL within the city limits. Except that, birds and small caged animals may be maintained, provided that space is adequate for the number of animals or birds confined and the space is kept in a clean and sanitary manner." Although the muni code doesn't define what "fowl" means, anyone would be hard-pressed to argue that a chicken is not a type of fowl. And in Suisun, under this section, you can keep 3 fowl within city limits.

Now compare that to the zoning section in the SAME muni code, Section 18.56.130 which states that, "Domesticated animals may be kept in the following numbers; provided however, that no more than five total animals may be kept at one time: Cats - 5 adults; Dogs - 5 adults . . . Poultry - None." This section of the muni code doesn't define what "Poultry" means. What is the purpose of this section? Is it to keep people from running agricultural operations such as raising livestock from their own homes? Does a chicken cease to be considered poultry/livestock when it is a pet which happens to have the beneficial characteristics of managing pests and producing eggs? The Suisun Muni Code is silent on these issues.

Also note that while "poultry" is prohibited, you can have a 100-lb pot belly pig within city limits (no offense to pigs; this is only to illustrate how inconsistent and illogical these rules are)!

I can anticipate what the opposition will say, which I will not share here, in case I should educate any of them who might be reading this. If we are unable to convince the code officer that our chickens are not a violation, we will relocate our chickens temporarily while we work to change these backward, asinine ordinances. If we are unsuccessful at convincing the code officer, please let us know if you would be willing to join us in trying to change these rule (possibly signing a petition and attending some city council meetings).

As an additional resource, many of the newly published books on keeping backyard flocks, contain an index as to municipal codes to larger jurisdictions. Alternatively, you can simply google your city and "municipal code", "local rules", or some permutation thereof. Although I can't be certain, it may be possible to locate your local municipal code on www.findlaw.com.

I hope what I've posted helps you. Thank you for reading.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

nuthoney, welcome to BYC and great first post!

I'm shocked that out in "Cow Town" (what an ex girlfriend use to call anything out by Fairfield / Vacaville) that a few hens isn't explicitly allowed.

Please do keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

 

[nuthoney]

Thank you Nifty Chicken for maintaining this excellent site!

I have lost much sleep over this ordinance violation notice issue for the past couple of days. The argument we will be making to the code officer this week is that in order to reconcile the 2 separate sections in the Suisun muni code (which cannot be fully reconciled because those sections are so poorly written and seemingly contradictory), is that "fowl" in section 6 pertains to keeping chickens as pets (section 6 says that you can have them; they just can't wander onto other people's properties, etc., much like pets of any sort), while "poultry" in section 18 refers to running a poultry operation, such as a slaughterhouse or breeding chickens for sale, out of one's own home. We have no intentions of eating our chickens because they are pets and we cannot possibly breed them because they are all hens. Also, we would gladly agree to limit our chickens to 3 in number, because that is all we can humanely house in the coop and run we've constructed for them.

If anyone has any other fresh, creative approaches/arguments re what we've presented, we would love to hear them. And if you live in a jurisdiction that has rules written similarly to Suisun's (God help you), I hope you are able to use these arguments in your defense.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

A few thoughts:

1) I'd ask for 5-6 hens / no roosters and then you could negotiate down to 3 if needed.
2) If they push back on having any, try to kindly determine their reasons for not allowing a very small flock of chickens in your backyard. You'll find that more often then not it is misconceptions about chicken "smell, noise, pest attraction, etc." that cause uneducated counsel members to vote against chickens. Help them see the true light of a well maintained small flock.
3) Maybe show some pictures of clean, well maintained coops. Point out that anybody that has any pet that isn't cared for properly would be a problem. For example, if anyone had 3 dogs or 3 cats that were confined and they didn't house / clean up after them properly they would be more problematic than 3 chickens under the same conditions.
4) Point to other similar cities or urban / suburban areas that have chicken friendly laws. Come to a compromise where they understand you don't want to start a small farm and just want to have a few pets that make you breakfast.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[nuthoney]

Thank you Nifty Chicken for your thoughts!

Quick, interesting update, and possibly educational, for others similarly situated as us...

Bottom line--I am feeling quite good about this and it looks like we will get to keep our chickens.

So how it came down--

We called the code compliance officer this morning. Apparently, she had referred our case to Animal Services (another govt agency staffed by law enforcement), as this case dealt with chickens. When I called Animal Services, described the complaint lodged against us, the officer referred to section 6 of the muni code immediately (this is what we refer to as the "pro-chicken" section) and said we were in compliance. He said he would do further research to verify/confirm his opinion, but it was heartening that he knew EXACTLY what we were talking about as soon we explained our situation to him.

So we called the code officer back (who was pleasant enough), relayed the discussion we had with Animal Services, and asked her how this came to her attn. Apparently, in her words, "a citizen, a man, walked by your backyard, saw chickens and called us." There are few people who walk by our backyard because of how the houses here are laid out and the chickens are out in the backyard only when we're home after work (they are in their enclosed run during the day), so although we can't be sure, we think we know who this suspect citizen/busy body is. But it was eye-opening that a code compliance officer would automatically assume that we were in violation just b/c someone saw 3 chickens in our yard, even though the birds hadn't flown off of our property and weren't making any noise.

These are the lessons we take from this, which we hope will edify others--

1. Ideally, you would read your local ordinances ahead of time. But if somehow you missed that step, look at your ordinances under both "zoning" and the section re "animals." Perhaps like us, you will find discrepancies which will more likely that not, be in your favor b/c the people who are supposed to enforce the code, can't reconcile the conflict. In our situation, even though the code officer defended section 18 which she was relying on to claim that we were in violation, when I brought up section 6 to her attn, she conceded that there was a conflict. This gave me the oppty to educate her about the code, explaining to her that the legislative history to section 18 probably applied to agriculture, whereas section 6 which allow for 3 fowl, pertained to pets--albeit imperfect, there was no other way to reconcile the two code sections. By the time we hung up, she seemed to start coming around in understanding my interpretation of the code and said that she might have to bring these code sections to the city council's attn. This is not a problem for us, because generally, no government agency can enact ex post facto laws (i.e., if my chickens were here before your law, I get to keep my chickens).

2. Always sound like the rationale party and be calm when you speak. Write out your speech ahead of time or have an outline ready, which is what we did to make sure we didn't miss any points.

It was really hard for me to make that first call to the code officer today because I was livid all weekend over this. 5% of the population create 80% of the problems in our society, so by sounding reasonable, it makes the complainant appear unreasonable and a true trouble-maker who has nothing better to do but to create problems where none existed before (i.e., turning the tables around and putting the burden on the complainant to demonstrate whether his complaint had any basis to begin with. For instance, if my birds were on my property and not wandering the streets, how can you justifiably complain that they were/are a nuisance??).

3. The foci/concerns of code compliance are not necessarily the same as animal care. The people in code compliance primarily want to make sure that you're maintaining the neighborhood, structures, etc., according to community standards, while animal care is more concerned about stray or noisy animals which may cause damage to property or people, or reproduce freely (thereby creating more headaches for animal care). If code compliance is not cooperative, call animal care in your jurisdiction--they would be more knowledgeable about statutes pertaining to animals and could even help you like they did for us.

4. Educate your code compliance officer--distinguish your backyard chicken keeping from agricultural production, which is what muni codes seek to prohibit in residential areas. Tell them (assuming that it is the truth) that you're not operating a breeding operation or a slaughterhouse; you're just keeping a reasonable amount of hens to help you with your garden or yard, and to provide eggs for your family. Animal care in our instance understood this right away.

**Document, document, document all of your calls, who you spoke with, what was discussed, when you discussed what you did. W/o this, you wil have no evidence and no clear recollection if you should ever need to draw upon conversations you had with various govt agencies.

5. If you are needing additional political support, consider contacting your local Slow Food Convivium (I am part of one) which undoubtedly would support your cause, as they are devoted to creating local, sustainable, organic meat and produce--they are usually well-connected and consist of people who have some influence in all the right places. There are chapters most everywhere--just google "Slow Food USA."

If we hear anything differently on our case, we will let all y'all know in the coming week. But it appears that our "chicken gate," is coming to a close with an enlightened result. Thanks all, especially Nifty Chicken, for moral support and guidance!

 

[Bram]

Where do you live that permits chickens? That's my first question. And I'd love alot of responses! I don't have my girls yet. They were due this weekend. But it seems, just as I am ready to own my chickens, there's a problem with that in the small rural SE Illinois village where I live. I served 4 yrs as a Village trustee and I know they are not prohibited, but it seems that the powers that now are, read the ordinances differently. They have apparently not asked a legal opinion of the Village attorney, but are taking matters into their own hands, and they are not correct in their handling of this situation. It seems that they are trying to prohibit keeping chickens because there have been some complaints about a couple of owners. But there are ordinances on the books to deal with that. These ordinances explain the step by step procedure for violations, notice, advisement of violations, time period for remedy or abatement, and consequences if remedy is not taken. They are not using the ordinance they feel prohibits ownership, but rather using a Nuisance ordinance. The sad thing is, instead of advising the specific property/chicken owner of the complaint and the violation, they have sent out letters ordering all chicken owners to get rid of their chickens within 30 days! Nuisance ordinance violations should be handles on a case by case basis......notan across-the-board action! The board members I have spoken to as of this point, feel that there is a health hazard to the community because there are chickens within the Village limits! How ridiculous! If that were true, would any of us be here? Just let me know where you live and if your town, village, burg, city permits chickens. I'd like a long list of places where they are legal! ( They are legal here, it's just that the present board has too big of a head to think to ask an opinion of their legal officer. Thank you.

 

[Kim1015]

They are not legal in my borough, but I am fighting them on it. I do know that New York City does not have any codes prohibiting the number of hens you own. You just cannot have a rooster in the city. The Today show did a story on a family that owned over 78 hens in the city. They also reported on an elementary school in the Bronx that owned a flock of hens as a class project. The children were able to take care of the animals and eat the eggs. They also donate extra eggs to local shelters. I live in western PA in what used to be considered a farm town. (Population 8500 or so) According to our counsel members "Hens don't belong in OUR town" and "a backyard is just not big enough to keep chickens in." I guess they have never seen how commercial poultry farms keep their chickens! My girls have a wonderful time eating all the bugs from our yard. (We have a 6 foot privacy fence around our yard in addition to a 4'x10' run/coop area)

 

[Henistan]

Hello to you all---
I just registered and wanted to say thanks for all the excellent information about how to go about changing local poultry ordinances.
I live in New Jersey, close to NYC, and have begun the process of getting our ordinance changed...after an annoying exchange with my town's legal department, I'm now in touch with my local councilman who says he's interested in hearing what I have to say.
I plan to put together information for him to build my case, and see that so many of you have shared what you've done---VERY VERY VERY helpful.
If anyone has any do's, don'ts, other advice, I'd be grateful for all of it.
Thanks for being out there---hoping to have 3 legal hens by the summertime!

 

[TommyVT05]

Nifty-Chicken,

I dunno if I have mentioned it before but thanks for putting this up. It sure does help a lot : )
Thanks for all your hard work!

- Tommy

PS: I have sent you a PM

 

[joy1355]

very important. good to know...