Bay Area BYCers!

[dldolan]

Good luck, Daphne. What an awful situation.

Dawn

Hi,
here's the latest from today ... yesterday was the chicken noise supposedly from the kids' chickens, even though the next property has chickens also.
AC came to my Berkeley house today, again ... this time with a photo that the next door person took sometime ago, of the BCM that was walking in the garden OUTSIDE of the coop enclosure, but within 25 feet of their property. She was told this is a violation. The AC officer (a different one than yesterday's) asked Lorie to see the coop. She had just fed the Delaware, and by chance, the Delaware was standing outside the coop enclosure, but still in the garden, on our property. Well, she was given a $200.00 ticket b/c the chicken was NOT 25 feet away from the neighbor's property. And, AC says b/c the person complained "in person," they have to follow up each time, and write citations.
We are all very upset with all of this, and, bottom line, are feeling that the neighbor wants us to get rid of the 4 chickens. After that, she will find another reason, like the two children might be crying or playing too loud, etc.
This person and her husband bought the property, and do not live there, but in Orinda. Their adult children live there. The daughter has also complained about noise to the police about the neighbor two doors away who was having a baby shower at 10 p.m. last year. Lorie and the family who live next door couldn't even hear the party! Go figure ...

Tressa, thanks for the suggestion ... None of the neighbors have complained or anything ... we all get along, except for this one .. guess they are mad that they lost money on their real estate income property and still need to pay between $15,000 and $17,000 in property taxes

Boogiedog, thanks for helping us. Pls. email me and I can give you more info, etc. or call you. Great to have met you on Sunday.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Hi everybody!

March was sooo crazy for me that I don't think I stopped in here even once. So, there's a meet-up coming? (Yikes! I still have my gift-certificate from last time. Is it still good?) I read through the last 10 pages of posts and couldn't find anything on it. Is there a separate thread?

Spring fever! Yessss!!!! I'm not getting any chicks this year, but will be working in the yard for the next week since I'm off from school. The rain+rain+rain+more rain has left everything STINKY! Will Stall Dry be useful in the run, or will I be wasting my money? Right now, it's mostly sand over a loamy clay. I added two truck-loads of sand over the years to fill in "Lake Orpington" but it still gets bad during storms. Also, I have one of those auto-waterers that has a leaky hose, so that isn't helping. Plenty of work out there without adding new chicks.

Daphne, I drive by your house in Berkeley at least once a week on my way to my staff meeting, and I've never seen a chicken out and about. So, they're complaining about things that are happening behind the fence in the backyard? They need to get a life. Sheesh!

 

[cherylcohen]

Steph, just PM'd you - we are hosting a Omelet Ranch event (not BYC sponsored) july 15th at Sienna Ranch

 

[clio]

Thanks Dawn and Steph for the encouragement. Yes, Lorie will need to go to court to contest the two citations.

Steph,
The neighbor took a photo of the kids' BCM that walked OUTSIDE of the coop enclosure in the back garden (you've seen the coop and garden.) The BCM was inside our property, but when the photo was taken, was standing within 25 feet of their property. The BCM was the victim of an opposum in January. At AC's Thurs. visit, the Delaware hen was standing/walking outside the coop enclosure, and the citation says the AC witnessed that the hen was within 25 feet of the next door property.

BTW, with every rain, the area under the neighbor's house floods, and they need to pump the water out for hours, even at night. My family hasn't complained about the pump noise ....

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Daphne,
Although I've been frustrated by the endless stream of parking tickets I get in Berkeley, I was heartened to finally have one overturned and dismissed. If I was you, I would read the municipal codes carefully, and find the loophole. There has to be one. I got a parking ticket that said I had an expired pay-station ticket, which was true, but it was because the machine printed the time incorrectly, which I could prove. I also could prove that I was somewhere else when it said I had bought the ticket.

Initially, Berkeley didn't care that their machine wasn't working. You know the signs..."If the machine isn't working it's your responsibility to find one that is. Citations will be issued.....blah,blah, blah." The thing that got them to listen to me was when I found the code that said they had to "maintain parking machine." Then, I asked for the code that they felt I was violating.

*crickets chirping*

They let me off. If you can find any code that supports your right to have chickens within your property, and quote that code to them, they might listen. I don't think they want to make life tough for Lorie. Give them any code-based reason to listen to you, and I think they will. Meanwhile, you might have to keep the chooks in the enclosure.

 

[AmCanyonStables]

Good luck with your ducks - they are fun, but very messy. And if it is a duckling, you will notice that they grow really fast. Take photos quickly if you want some when it is small.

 

[clio]

Hi Steph,
Thanks for the thoughts ... I've PM'd you separately.

 

[jeremy]

Daphne, I'm sorry to hear about Lorie's lousy neighbors, people can be such butts when they want to be. I hope everything gets resolved in their favor.

I took a little "vacation" from BYC but I'm back now, I'm glad to see this thread active and still thriving.

I think I saw mention of a get together sometime in July, it seems like a pretty "exclusive" event so I won't bother to ask for details but rather maybe suggest that we all start brainstorming ideas for an upcoming all inclusive 2012 regional Bay Area Chickenstock? I don't want to get too deep into the planning right now but I do think it might be good for folks to start suggestion dates that would work so that hopefully we can plan something to work with everyone's availability. Last year's meet up was great but I'd like to have the next one before November, LOL. I'm thinking maybe July, August, September or even October of this year? Thoughts?

boogiedog/Allison, how are you doing? Are your bators still running and full?

That also reminds me, Dawn, how many babies have you hatched? Bunches I hope?

I don't have anything chick related to share, I only have babies growing out from my hatches at the very beginning of the year but I do have a new addition to our little farm. This is Prudence my Blue Partridge Orpington.



Sorry the quality of the picture isn't the greatest, I snapped this photo minutes after I took her out of the box she was shipped to us in. I plan on putting Prudence with my Splash Orpington cockerel to hopefully recreate more birds like her. Once I have a decent male bird and maybe a few more females I will begin breeding for more clearly defined partridge markings and coloration. I'm very excited about this new little project. I love my Orps and getting the chance to work with another color is wonderful. My end goal is to create a line of Partridge and Blue Partridge Orpingtons, I do also plan on introducing Cuckoo Orpingtons into the mix at some point to create Crele Orps down the road too. Heck, I might even breed the Partridge line with my Chocolate Orpingtons to create Chocolate Partridge colored birds, I dunno! I'm just very happy to have Prudence and her special genes to "play around" with.

I hope everyone is doing good. Today was a beautiful day here in Oakland, tomorrow we're suppose to have a high of 70 degrees here. We've got lots of sprouts in the garden so some nice warm weather will do them some good.

 

[clio]

G M, Jeremy ...
Thanks for the kind words.
How about a BYC Meet Up in August, before many kids go back to school? The zoo facility is nice, Boogiedog also said she may have access to a place, and Cheryl said she might have Sienna Ranch available.
Remember, in September there is the Heirloom Festival in Santa Rosa, although that is is the middle of the week.
Opinions, everyone???

 

[boogiedog]

Hi all,

Jeremy - I'm still a hatching fool - just put my basques outside yesterday to make room for my new icelandics and isbars (just hatched) and the Marans hatching this week... more marans hatching next week...then Lav. aracuanas from Hinkcj...about 4 batchs, 70 eggs to go and I'm going to take a break

Daphne, just spoke with Lorie. Definitely contest the citations. The noise is an easy one to win; the chicken being out is tougher but you still have a good chance. Unfortunately these frivolous complaints tie up our municipal resources frequently. I advised Lorie to get on the City of Berkeley's website and read the muni code. That will help her address clearly how she was not in "noise" violation. As for the loose chicken, she can state she has fixed the coop and run, and feels this neighbor has an ax to grind with the homeowner. She can put it all out there at the hearing. It is pretty obvious that the issue is not chickens, noise or children... Good luck with that.

And yes, let's all enjoy this great weather!