Board of Health against quarantine (oh, the irony)

[fox623]

I've not wanted to disclose my actual town (internet strangers and all), but between 2018 and 2020, it was in the national news several times for its response to keeping chickens (attachment 1). Part of it may be that my boyfriend can sometimes come across as a smart ass. I wish that I was home to deal with her, but by applying for a permit, we basically gave the town the right to inspect our private property at any time, without prior notice (attachment 2). He works part time on Mondays and Fridays, and I was at work. We're cool with letting the fines rack up until the weekend, but it may be easier to just put them all in the coop together. Which illnesses are still communicable after two weeks?

 

[fox623]

it's not crazy.

those are the rules where the OP lives. like them or don't, but you have to follow them if you want to keep chickens in your yard.

it doesn't matter if the inspector has worked in healthcare or not. they are there to make sure the rules are being followed for the privilege of keeping chickens on your property. for all they know, you could be keeping chickens in the garage and selling them. they aren't going to take your word for it.

it seems like there were a few hoops to jump through in order to be able to have a coop on your property, and you navigated those successfully. was this a surprise inspection? or was it scheduled? all you had to do was wait until after the inspection to get your new chickens or hide them better while the inspector was there.

all that being said, i think you'll be fine moving the new birds in with your flock now.

 

[fox623]

It was more of an oversight on our part, allowing her to see the garage. We did not think that we had anything to hide. Live and learn.

Unfortunately, the word "incubation" is used a lot on this forum, so my searches were a bit fruitless. Does this seem accurate, for diseases that affect chickens?

Disease	Vector	Incubation
Coccidiosis	Parasite	5–6 days
Avian Encephalomyelitis	Virus	1–7 days
Avian Influenza	Virus	1–7 days
Fowlpox	Virus	4–10 days
Infectious Bronchitis	Virus	24–48 hours
Marek Disease	Virus	30–120 days
Newcastle Disease	Virus	2–15 days
Colibacillosis	Bacteria	1–3 days
Mycoplasmosis	Bacteria	6–21 days
Salmonellosis	Bacteria	12–72 hours
Aspergillosis	Fungus	2–5 days
Favus	Fungus	??

 

[DickMidnight]

Before I turned into an octogenarian and ran plum out of patience and energy, I would call the employee's boss an explain what you encountered with the employee, stating that ignorance and inflexibility is counter to everything the ordinance is trying to accomplish, that more training of the inspectors as to the nature of things would be helpful to everyone, etc.

the employee was just doing their job. they did nothing wrong.

if the bylaw says chickens can't be anywhere but the designated coop, and the inspector sees them elsewhere, well what would you like them to do?

they don't know your intentions, or even that your stated intentions are the truth.

i've never understood this point of view at all.

 

[raingarden]

You're trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Either move some place where the local culture is compatible to your desired lifestyle, or accept the local culture for what it is.

 

[McChooky]

How can you raise healthy chickens if you aren't allowed to temporarily isolate the sick or quarantine any new chickens ? Maybe you can attend meetings and eventually get the rules changed ? Please keep us updated!

 

[McChooky]

My suggestion is keep a chicken tractor at a friends house for emergencies only.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I've not finished reading all the responses, so I apologize if this has already been said (I have a short lunch) - but the "Right to Farm" laws around the nation are intended to protect ongoing commercial farmiing operations against the vaguaraies of "nuisance law", they are not meant to protect start up back yard keepers at non-commercial scale (or new start up commercial farming, for that matter). You might also find this site useful

We live in a provincial Massachusetts town that boasts a cadre of arduous regulations to gatekeep hobby farming. To get a permit, households must submit GIS plans (from the town’s website, of course), along with a plan of keeping and maintenance. Once those are approved (by the Board of Health, Department of Conservation, and Zoning Board), a plan with the location must be submitted and approved. Once the permit was granted (after a MONTH), I assumed we were fine. Yesterday, the town sent an inspector from the Board of Health to ensure that we put it where we said we would and to see that we are storing the food where we said we would (garage) and disposing of manure where we said we would (compost). The Board of Health inspector saw our quarantining hens in the garage and informed us that we violated the following bylaws: a) "No poultry shall be allowed to forage, stray, or roam unrestricted at the premises or elsewhere; hens must at all times be confined to the coop/henhouse and run"; and b) "Manure shall be stored not less than 50’ from abutting front, side, and rear property lines." My boyfriend is a doctor and explained to the inspector (who has never worked in healthcare) that quarantine doesn't work if the animals are living in the same place and that our new girls will be in the permitted coop as soon as possible. She told us that it was not acceptable because keeping them in our garage violated the rule that "No domestic animal as herein defined shall be housed within any part of a residential dwelling." We also had no idea that we would need to move our compost pile (which is approximately 10 feet from our neighbor's yard and has been since before I met my boyfriend) JUST because it now has chicken manure. It's a $50/day fine per offense.

TLDR: How hard is it to invoke the "Right to Farm" in Massachusetts? Is it OK if our quarantine is curtailed? They've been kept separate since 9/18 (nine days as of today) and all have been vaccinated for Marek's.

 

[cassie]

We live in a provincial Massachusetts town that boasts a cadre of ardu

ous regulations to gatekeep hobby farming. To get a permit, households must submit GIS plans (from the town’s website, of course), along with a plan of keeping and maintenance. Once those are approved (by the Board of Health, Department of Conservation, and Zoning Board), a plan with the location must be submitted and approved. Once the permit was granted (after a MONTH), I assumed we were fine. Yesterday, the town sent an inspector from the Board of Health to ensure that we put it where we said we would and to see that we are storing the food where we said we would (garage) and disposing of manure where we said we would (compost). The Board of Health inspector saw our quarantining hens in the garage and informed us that we violated the following bylaws: a) "No poultry shall be allowed to forage, stray, or roam unrestricted at the premises or elsewhere; hens must at all times be confined to the coop/henhouse and run"; and b) "Manure shall be stored not less than 50’ from abutting front, side, and rear property lines." My boyfriend is a doctor and explained to the inspector (who has never worked in healthcare) that quarantine doesn't work if the animals are living in the same place and that our new girls will be in the permitted coop as soon as possible. She told us that it was not acceptable because keeping them in our garage violated the rule that "No domestic animal as herein defined shall be housed within any part of a residential dwelling." We also had no idea that we would need to move our compost pile (which is approximately 10 feet from our neighbor's yard and has been since before I met my boyfriend) JUST because it now has chicken manure. It's a $50/day fine per offense.

TLDR: How hard is it to invoke the "Right to Farm" in Massachusetts? Is it OK if our quarantine is curtailed? They've been kept separate since 9/18 (nine days as of today) and all have been vaccinated for Marek's.

Just a comment. I learned this when I was putting in a goat dairy years ago. Just because an official, any official, tells you what the law is, that does not mean that is what the law actually is. Insist that they give you statute numbers. Then you can go to the law library and check it out yourself. I have found that the reference librarians at the law library are usually very helpful. Some garden supplies sell bagged chicken manure. You might buy a bag and ask the inspector if it is legal or if it requires special handling.

 

[Ozarkoak]

So strange. Like a different world. I really enjoy reading about how things work in different places and how polar opposite one place can be to the other.