Anny, I live in Taylor- where chickens are considered livestock and are illegal.
In Taylor, we are allowed three animals total. And it has to be any combination of the following: dogs, cats, and non-breeding rabbits.
That means my parrots, and my tortoise are also illegal. And my bearded dragon- because it is considered exotic. No exotic animals. Taylor law is very spelled out- they even mention that quail are exotic animals.
I got caught a few years ago, and had to send my three hens to my brother in laws farm. My neighbor (the one giving me trouble now) called and said my chickens were keeping him awake all night. The pound wasn't interested in my arguments that chickens don't make noise at night. I am not allowed to own them- silent or not.
I didn't receive a fine- I was told I WOULD receive fines, etc if I didn't give them up.
I waited a couple years, and now I have them again. In a different area of my yard, semi-secluded. My closest neighbors, on either side of me,including the one giving me trouble, know I have them. Simply because their children play with my children and have seen them. The lady across the street knows I have them- because I gave her the five that she has now. My chickens are extremely spoiled. Most of that is because I try to keep them quiet. If you don't have treats when you enter, they make a big fuss.
I ignore everything that everyone else does around me. Drag racing, huge illegal fireworks, bottle rockets that fall in my yard, loud music, pot-smoking, barking dogs,etc. When they are driving me crazy- I go sit with my chickens. I have a very nice chicken yard set up with a bench to sit on behind a split rail-fence, covered in hardware cloth, six foot high, and trumpet vine and honeysuckle covering it. I also planted evergreen shrubbery in that area- the only thing the chickens haven't stripped. Two sides of my chicken yard are the outside walls of my house- which is L shaped. The remaining side is a privacy fence.
I don't see Taylor ever making chickens legal. They used to be- and Taylor is trying to make itself look like it is some high-class society. (Personally, I think if the Queen of England would have some house chickens, it would actually help us all.) Our city council has been trying to erase our "TaylorTucky" nickname. It is also why Taylor had those two stupid blue arches over I-94, erected. We are supposed to be some uppity-city when we don't even have busing for our high school students. Taylor is famous for our "Sin City" a mile long series of apartment complexes where nobody sane would enter without a gun, bullet-proof glass, and full body armor. So, Taylor changed the names of all the apartments over there, and said they had fixed the problem. NOT. We are also home to some pretty big pit bull fighting rings- and the pound is always full of pit bulls and pit bull mixes. I remind my own pit how lucky he is that I own him, and that is a main reason why after I foster-raised him when he was born, I never rehomed him.
So, I keep illegal birds here. I was a little worried when my LOUD parrot learned how to sound like a chicken. And he would make the"caught" chicken sound over and over and over again. I didn't want anyone to think that is was my chickens doing it. So, I countered that by standing outside, joking with my neighbors- "Listen to him, he sounds like a chicken! Dumb bird." I don't think my neighborhood knows that parrots are illegal here.
I am also meticulous. My yard smells better BECAUSE of my chickens. I have climbing rose bushes- out of the chickens reach, lol- I make sure ALL garbage is sealed up. I wouldn't want someone to smell stink and blame my chickens. I have honeysuckle planted (which I really have decided that I don't like the smell of). I use Sweet PDZ (and by the way, I cannot FIND food-grade DE anywhere) heavily, and I use fresh pine shavings all over the ground in my chicken yard. I clean out my coop weekly, and I use Timothy hay in their nest box. All dog poop is scooped daily. There is no standing water. We keep our yard very well groomed so that nobody can complain about appearances.
If I get caught, I will send all the chickens to my brother-in-laws for a little while. However, I will bring Carmen back here. She would not be a happy chicken there on the farm. She loves human contact and treats. There, she would live in her coop and bare yard, and food would be available, but treats are very rare. Nobody sits out in the chicken yard to visit. Also, she loves her roost with her two windows to peek out. AND we have a nightly "Good Night, Carmen" ritual that we do through the windows. If she beats me to the window of her coop- she gets very loud until I peek through and say, "Good Night Carmen"...lol. (I would get there faster, but I have to shut the pop hole, unchain the gate to their yard, get out and rechain it, then get up on my deck to peek through the window. All she has to do is walk in the coop and jump up on her roost. lol).
So yes, basically, I am saying," I am breaking the law and intend to keep on doing so. Habitual offender, criminal behavior with no desire to reform."
