Chickens as pets

[mem79]

We live in a township that we thought allowed all livestock except horses. We have 4 chickens (hen and pullets). Today we received a letter from the township that we are violating township regulations "clearly" stating that we are not allowed to have them. Of course, anyone knows that nothing is ever really "clearly" stated. We had read this same amendment prior to getting the chickens and thought it was clear we could have them. Now we read it and see that it may actually be saying we are not allowed to have them on a certain size property (2 acres) without first asking permission. I'm not even going to get into how often I don't feel like we live a "free" country half the time...
We would have asked permission first if we had read this correctly. Now we have a lot of time and effort ($) invested into these lovely creatures. I have heard of people claiming them to be pets before. How did you do this and what did you say? They are more like pets. we are not going to be eating them. They are used for the children to learn about their care. They are often cuddled and carried from place to place, given specials treat (worms) by the children.
Thank you for your help.
Michelle in Malvern, PA

 

[FireTigeris]

look up the ordinance and look up the definition of

Livestock
pets
poultry

In Jax the definitions are as follows:

Pet, household means an animal, including, but not limited to a dog; a domestic cat; a rodent such as a guinea pig, a hamster, a gerbil, a domestic rat, or a domestic mouse; a domesticated but not a wild ferret; a lagomorph such as a rabbit; a fowl; a fish; or a reptile; kept as subordinate to residential use for the purpose of providing human companionship.

Poultry, hoofed animals of any type, with the sole exception of bona fide purebred miniature Vietnamese potbellied pigs which are kept for the sole purpose of providing human companionship and which are in compliance with all applicable provisions of Chapter 462, Part 6, predatory animals such as lions, tigers, ocelots, pumas, and the like, or animals which are normally raised to provide food for people shall not be considered household pets.

For the sake of protecting the public's health and safety, wolf hybrids and raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, and other known, or potential, rabies vectors which cannot be immunized against rabies, shall not be allowed as household pets under this Section and shall not be kept, sold, traded, or given as household pets by any pet shop or by any citizen.



Livestock means any grazing animal, such as horses, cattle, sheep, donkeys, mules, buffalos, llamas, swine, goats and other hoofed animals, and emus, ostriches, and rheas, that are raised for private use or commercial purposes; however, purebred miniature Vietnamese potbellied pigs kept for the sole purpose of providing human companionship and which are in compliance with all applicable provisions of this Chapter are not considered livestock.


Poultry means domesticated birds, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas and pigeons, that are usually raised for eggs and/or to provide food for humans.​