Been crying all afternoon, thoughts on solution?

[gapeach717]

i have a lot more,delawares, EEs, polish, ect....but these are the four i am closest to and if i can keep them i want to.

 

[Nicole01]

i have a lot more,delawares, EEs, polish, ect....but these are the four i am closest to and if i can keep them i want to.

If you keep another one, keep an EE. Mine lay beautiful eggs everyday. One lays a blue, the other an olive egg.

 

[gapeach717]

I want one of the EEs so bad but if I were to chance a fifth it would be Callie, my white crested black polish baby!!

 

[Chicks on DL]

Got to love them loopholes! Sounds like you might even be able get the rules changed where you live. Look for what the laws are in other areas/counties/cities around you (sets precedent) that allow chickens. Starts with one person making noise and then others will join. We have a nearby county where the law was changed to allow chickens and now everyone is getting them. I like being the odd ball and having chickens is becoming sheik. Oh well, I'll keep my girls and find another way to be weird.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Leslieb118]

You should pass out flyers about the conditions of commercial egg farms and the quality of store bought eggs vs. backyard eggs. ABC just ran a story of a commercial egg farm last week. Tell them happy eggs come from happy chickens, and you only want a handful of chickens. I'm lucky that I don't have the problem you're having. I'm on 5 acres and I have 2 roosters (one is a banty). My property is more long than deep, so I do have neighbors right across the street. They didn't even notice I had chickens until I called them and asked if they wanted some fresh eggs. Just yesterday I gave her a dozen and a half. Her words to me were, "This is really a good deal I've got going on here, I've hit the jackpot!" I figure it's the least I can do, if ever they do hear my big EE Rooster crowing at 4am!!
It almost sounds to me that your neighbor noticed on your facebook page the number of chicks you have right now and thought that number would stay the same. There are some HOA's that will allow up to maybe 4 or so hens. I'd do some research and find out what surrounding communities do in that regard. These days there are more and more backyard chicken people. I didn't have chickens until August of this past year. I never even wanted chickens. My son brought home chicks and we raised them..then got more, and more...and well, I've got 13 more chicks that I just transferred to a brand new coop for them yesterday! I obsess over my chicks/chickens! I AM the crazy chicken lady. Make a case for yourself to be able to have them. Educate yourself so you can educate them. Most people don't know the fun that raising chickens becomes.
And yes, you did make a mistake by bringing in chickens not knowing what your HOA rules were. I also understand that you moved in to that house when you married your hubby that already lived there. When my hubby asked me to marry him in 1993, I didn't say.."Yes! But um, what are the deed restrictions here?" LOL
However it works out, I wish you luck. I'd be devastated too if I had to give up my chickens.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

I think I'd set my girls up in the garage, put diapers on them and start taking them for leashed walks and let everyone know that they are my PETS. Once they're established as your indoor pets, it's going to be pretty hard for anyone to make you get rid of them, but I'd stick with only 3 or 4, because then you might run afoul of some kennel law like they have for dogs.

My Cochins are my absolute favorite chickens. I had a big black one named Coochie and she rode with me in my truck. As for housebreaking them, I didn't have any trouble with them messing in the house but I didn't keep them in too long. I can't stand a poopy hen butt so I bring them in and bathe and blow dry them when they get messy. (Don't laugh, they LOVE it). I've never had a bird mess in the house once and I've got a LOT of birds. Cooch never messed in my truck either and we took some fairly long rides (for a chicken anyhow), to the gas station, to the feed store, stuff like that. In summer, she loved to sit in front of the AC vents. So, I know it can be done! LOL, you really do get some "Crazy Chicken Lady" looks but mostly people just want to pet the bird.

 

[Ole rooster]

Never thought I'd hear of such a problem in Georgia of all places. But up in Canton maybe so. North Georgia has had an influx of outsiders move in without the first thought of blending in with the community, but bringing in the ways of their upbringing. They hate where they came from but want to bring it with um. What a shame to live like that. 76 ft is just to close to have to live to anybody. My rule when I moved here is being able to do my business off the front porch or back with prying eyes nosing in on my affairs.

Best of luck.

 

[gickelvolk]

Never thought I'd hear of such a problem in Georgia of all places. But up in Canton maybe so. North Georgia has had an influx of outsiders move in without the first thought of blending in with the community, but bringing in the ways of their upbringing. They hate where they came from but want to bring it with um. What a shame to live like that. 76 ft is just to close to have to live to anybody. My rule when I moved here is being able to do my business off the front porch or back with prying eyes nosing in on my affairs.

Best of luck.

You have hit the nail on the head!

Folks move into more rural areas and bring with them the ideas that destroyed their place of origin......
As these types flee the cities and states they have ruined, they perpetuate the very things that caused them to leave in the first place.

Learn to live to local norms or MOVE BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!

 

[Kikiriki]

the hoa stands by the 76 foot rule bc no lot has that much room...however...they only state they cannot be kept on the EXTERIOR of a lot....so again....the garage would be my HOA loophole. Now I wait for the ruling on the chickens as a pet in my house thing.

Seems to me you found your loophole: "kept" being in the coop in the garage, while outside time is just outside time and NOT where they are "kept". Think of like walking a dog...the dog is kept in the house, but allowed out for walks through the neighborhood, while your chickens would be kept in the house and allowed out for walks in the yard. Further, you can argue about chickens being typical pets... Check the chicken whisperer to see if he posts statistics about how common they are, and certainaly this forum boasts over 100,000 chicken pet owners. Additionally, you can compare chicken noise, poo, and odor by bringing (containerized!) samples to plop in front of the HOA of one days worth of giant dog poo versus one days worth of chicken poo, and a movie taken from within two feet of your neighbors barking dog to compare with the gentle chicken song! Then provide them with scientific peer reviewed articles about the relative fertilizer value of dog, cat, chicken poop. Talk about the value added to the appearance of the yard by natural fertilizer, which increases the value of a property. Finally, discuss the food value offered by those various pets. Anyway, I wish you best of luck and hope you chose to take the moral high road by not retaliating... The hostility generated is bad for you and only tends to escalate. One last thought...if you can establish a real medical need to have home grown eggs, you might be able to get them on your side. One example is from the brevard county florida april 3, 2012 commisioner meeting. (video online). One speaker described the benefit of chemical free foods in autism spectrum disorders. Have aspergers or adhd? Supposed to be research that supports benefits and it makes people feel like crap to think they are harming you medically...

 

[Leslieb118]

These links are worth reading...

http://www.tillysnest.com/2011/10/not-in-my-backyard-or-yours.html


http://www.myfoxal.com/story/17466772/familys-small-chicken-flock-runs-afoul-of-city-ordinance