For the sake of argument, let's pretend that I am a non-chicken owner. Okay, I paid as much for my house as you probably did for yours. I lived in apartments and military housing for more years than some of you have been alive, so when I suddenly had the opportunity to buy a lovely home in an nice neighborhood with peace and quiet, with less traffic, less congestion, and the ability to sit out on my patio after a rough day and relax with my family, I was elated. Like you, (and that's a generic you, not a specific singling out) owning my own place was a dream I'd saved and worked hard for. Suddenly there's all this unusual racket, an increase in critters in my neighborhood, and an occasional whiff of something less than pleasant, although it usually doesn't last long. One day I even saw a chicken in my flower beds. Where the heck did that come from? And why are my stepping stones by the garden dotted with chicken poop? So I make a call to the city officials explaining my dilemma. They come out to investigate and lo and behold there's an illegal chicken coop and several chickens in the neighboring yard. The owner (you) gets all up in arms because I contacted the city - not even considering that you were the only one doing anything illegal. No, you're mad because I had the gall to be so confused and concerned about what was going on that I'd actually reported you. I must hate you. I must be either an evil, nasty, snoopy chicken hater, a commercial producer, or a "goose stepping Nazi". Why? Well, because I didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the purchase price, taxes, utilities and insurance on my dream home to live next door to a farm - small or otherwise - and I hadn't been prepared for that possibility. But you don't care about that - it's all about your rights and what you want to do, not about sharing the neighborhood space with a majority of people who are still content to get their eggs and chickens from the store.
Whenever these chicken owner vs neighbor/city/laws threads come up there are several common denominators.....
"The problem is the big corporations and corporate greed." I would be willing to bet that most big corporations are not one bit threatened by someone's desire to raise backyard chickens for meat, eggs, entertainment, education for their kids, or all of the above. They don't even break a sweat over it....anymore than commercial vegetable growers or wine makers sweat a backyard or community vegetable garden or a few grapevines for homemade wine. They have bigger issues than a few backyard producers and they will always have a pretty stable market, so in the overall scheme of things I'd be really careful about over-inflating your importance to their bottom line. Truth is, you are just not important to them because you are not a threat to them. Period.
"My chickens don't make any noise (have any smell, get out of their pen, etc) so my neighbor is just being unreasonable (or whatever name fits in this spot)." Really? Why is it that the only person who doesn't hear a dog barking at 2 am is the dog's owner? You sure are quick to point out barking dogs in your arguments, but obviously the dog that bothers you isn't bothering the dog's owner. Nobody ever thinks their set-up is anything less than ideal. They usually refuse to believe that their chickens are anything but quiet, clean and perfect. Often those same people are pretty quick to say "my kid wouldn't do that", until the time their kid is caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Your chickens do make noise - some more than others - and when the wind is right and it's been a day or two since your coop was cleaned they do smell bad - even if you correct it as soon as you notice it. If that odor drifting over the fence happens to be during the hour or so I'm outside, what am I supposed to think? And how many chicken owners have said, "Well, they don't usually get out, except for this one time......" Even one time is too many times to find my flowers nibbled and big old chicken poops on my property. And do you really believe that I have nothing better to do with my time than snoop over your fence and find things to complain about? Oh, some do, I'll grant you that, but most of us are too busy trying to find a way to pay our bills, take care of our kids, keep up our property, and enjoy a little leisure time to worry about what you're doing, unless it actually does impact us directly.
Having chickens in my yard is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, since I want to be self-sustaining and teach my kids how to raise their own food. How reasonable is it to want chickens so badly that you are willing to alienate neighbors, antagonize city officials, and blame everyone but yourself for hiding them in the first place? Hiding says one thing - "I knew it was illegal but it's a law I don't like so I'm not going to follow it. Neener, neener!" While you're teaching your kids about the joys of homegrown food you're also going to teach them that they don't have to obey a law they don't like. Underage consumption of alcohol, and especially driving under that influence, is also against the law. If you teach them now that the law doesn't apply to them, how will you react when they are old enough to pick and choose for themselves which laws to obey and which to flaunt, and when disobeying one of the laws they've decided to ignore kills or injures someone? And what parent teaches their child to lie to get what he/she wants? Besides, nobody is asking anyone's children to be subservient, just pro-active and being a vehicle for change if a law is wrong. There's a difference.
"City officials are greedy goosestepping Nazis who just take bribes from corporations, and are out to get me and/or my money." As a "goosestepping Nazi", I resent that. If you believe it's unfair to outlaw chickens because of the bad behavior of a few owners, then how can you turn right around and paint all officials with a black brush because of the bad behavior some of them exhibit? You simply cannot have it both ways. I've read a hundred times here that the mayor, Planning and Zoning, or whatever city official you might be mad at has nothing better to do than go after you for a few bucks. Remember, if you weren't in violation there'd be no fines to collect in the first place. So you put that ball in their court. They didn't build a coop in your backyard overnight and stock it with chickens just to take your hard earned cash. As a former planning and zoning commissioner and now a town council member, we'd rather not have to get in the middle of these kinds of disputes but as long as someone feels he is above the law we have no choice but to act on it. If that shoe were on the other foot and you filed a complaint about something, would you prefer we just say, "Oh, it's okay. He's not doing any harm so we just won't do anything?" Heck no, you'd be up in arms if we ignored your complaint, and we'd sure hear about it. And why isn't your name on a ballot if you believe that all government is corrupt and you alone are right?
The bottom line is this. If you want the opportunity to be heard, to be effective, and to get the laws changed, then the first thing you must be is credible. Gather up as much information as you can from communities who have successful ordinances on the books specific to poultry keeping. Form a committee. Be honest about what you want, and reasonable in your expectations. Anticipate having to make some compromise and accept that gracefully. If they propose an ordinance that allows, say, 5 chickens, but you want to keep 10, then the best way to get that done is to accept the limit, adhere to it, encouraging others to adhere as well. Then when the opportunity comes up to revisit the ordinance or to amend it, you have a solid track record of responsible chicken keeping to fall back on. Make the anti-chicken people say, "Well, I don't have any problems with So-and-So. Guess what I'd heard about chickens in town isn't always true." That's one more neighbor in your corner. Above all remember this, "My rights end where your toes begin." That goes two ways. Your rights end where mine begin.
Okay pretend time is over. I do own chickens. I'm lucky enough to live in a community where they are not only welcome, so are roosters - and cows, and sheep, and goats, and horses, and mules, and donkeys.....and it works. We had many new residents and other non-owners come to us on the town council and ask that we do something for their comfort. There were a few animal owners who were less than careful about cleanliness and housing, but there was no ordinance on the books to address it. Those who wanted to sit outside without barnyard sounds and smells were just as entitled to consideration as those who owned animals, but they didn't want to cause neighborhood difficulties. This town has had animals in town limits since it was founded, and it's a very important part of the flavor of living here. And many of the residents had founders who have handed their land down, and down and down again. So we had some tough choices to make. The result was an animal ordinance that we can all live with. We were successful because we were able to hear from both sides, give them both a forum with listening ears, and both sides presented their arguments calmly, respectfully, and with a lot of information to back their positions. We were willing to listen because they remained calm and respectful. We had them form a committee and work on compromises that were effective. They did it, and we took what they brought to us and made a new animal control ordinance. Some say we went too far, others that we didn't go far enough, but now there are regs on the books to enable us to act upon complaints fairly. We also charge a nominal animal permit fee at the first of every year, with a price break for 4-H kids when they bring in their 4-H packets. Everyone wins, and I still have the pleasure of watching kids walk their lambs down the street in preparation for fair season or ride their horses past the house with a smile and a wave. It can be done, but only as long as those of you who want it so badly can find common ground with folks who are hesitant. The only way to do that is to get the process going and then stick to it, and being sure that you aren't already in violation before you get started.
There, now let the flaming begin. I'm a Navy wife - I can handle it.
