Disregarding Local Chicken Laws

[Sonoran Silkies]

I am not suggesting anyone is a criminal. I have a coop in my back yard and the local bylaw does not allow it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/714229/stealthy-coop-and-run-needed

When a member encourages another to do the same I wonder what their own experience is with side-stepping bylaws.

I wonder about the example they are setting for their children. Better to work to change the ordinance first than to stealthily ignore it. Every law or ordinance i inconvenient to someone, but the overall purpose is to protect society and allow people to live together civilly.

 

[chickortreat]

I wonder about the example they are setting for their children.  Better to work to change the ordinance first than to stealthily ignore it.  Every law or ordinance i inconvenient to someone, but the overall purpose is to protect society and allow people to live together civilly.

Gee, as to the example they're setting for their children......Moses' mother hid him rather than have him thrown to the crocodiles. I'm sure that he would not have preferred that she be a boot-licker. The Bible is full of stories of those who went against the system. Not a Bible-believer? Our own history is full of similar stories. In fact, our country was founded by folks who thought outside the box. Why, what were Adams, Revere, Jefferson, etc thinking? They were setting such awful examples for their children!I teach my children to think for themselves. Just because someone tells you you cannot do something does NOT mean that it is wrong, but often merely that it rubs THEM the wrong way.

 

[StarLover21]

Our town doesn't allow chickens either, unless they are 250 from all houses, which is pretty much impossible. However we checked with all of our neighbors and we have seven chickens and have had them for about 6 years. Nobody cares. As long as you check with everybody, it should be fine. In fact, one of our neighbors across the street has a rooster that crows 24/7 and nobody minds about him either. There are several other people in the neighborhood who have chickens as well.

If anybody were to complain, of course we would have to get rid of our chickens. After six years I doubt that would happen, and our city has actually be considering changing the laws.

Good luck!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote: But in all those cases there were FIRST efforts to work within the system, and when that did not work they stepped outside it. I hardly think raising backyard hens when it is against the law is even close to being similar to saving a human life that is condemned simply for existing. The founding fathers attempted to work with Parliament for a long time before they threw in the towel and said "no more!"

 

[20736]

Keeping hens and robbing banks are not the same thing peeps.
One is at best a zoning violation; the other is a Class 1 Felony.
Nobody goes to jail for keeping hens.
I think that it is easier to get a variance than a parole anyway.
Mrs.Murphy will not make the FBI's Top Ten for keeping 3 hens in a hutch in her backyard.
All that being said, if you really try you can probably get a legal variance to an antichicken zoning reg by petitioning local authorities and getting neighbors to support (this is where the "what you can get for eggs" part comes in.)
This thread has given me a few chuckles though.

 

[lookyhereboy]

I had a neighbor pitch a fit when I got my Hens. I have 4 and that is what our local ordinance allows. Then the neighbor tried to use an HOA agreement we knew nothing about. Once we checked into it we found the HOA was from 1950 and is defunct. It felt good to win that one and the neighbor now has a custom ordered 7 ft vinyl fence he paid God knows what for. We are starting to see more and more communities moving to allow backyard chickens here in the St Louis area. I recently heard of two that passed ordinances to allow them. One was Eureka MO and I can't remember the other. I think I need to open up a backyard chicken supply store. The closest farm store is 20 min away I am sure I could pull in a good amount of customers.

 

[icnu]

Can we change the tone of this thread? It sounds like there are many in this same situation. Instead of going into the politics of right/wrong to disobey the laws, could we start sharing backup plans? Advice whether to share eggs with neighbors if you are keeping hens illegally? Success stories of one is this situation that WERE able to change their local laws? Really...Anything that will make this less accusatory????

 

[drewva]

There are many great examples of people coming together and changing local laws around keeping chickens.
Here's an inspiring article at Handcrafted Coops:
http://handcraftedcoops.com/are-chickens-illegal-in-your-town-change-the-law

 

[WillyGood]

To much bickering on this thread to root threw..

 

[Black Jaque]

Well if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen. I don't mind a little thought-provoking dialogue.

Call it illegal - I don't mind. I'm in a peculiar situation where I don't know if keeping chickens in my city is illegal or not. My city prohibits letting chickens run at large. And it also prohibits barns, fences, stables, pens, and other enclosures for chickens. However, it does allow for temporary structures (which is defined as something not anchored to a foundation) for children's activities such as lemonade stands. There is no outright prohibition on chickens themselves. So is a chicken tractor illegal? I don't know.

As far as a moral obligation to follow laws. I think I will be OK with my Maker come judgement day. Not every zoning ordinance is Thus Saith The Lord. We need to honor our rightful authorities. It does not dishonor them to keep chickens in spite of an ordinance prohibiting such. Why?

Not every law passed is intended to be enforced rigorously. Does that mean we can break those laws if we observe the spirit of the law? Yes - if the law is not grounded in natural law. For example, bicycling on sidewalks. Illegal in most cities yet broken by every six-year-old in town. Is there something inherently evil about bicycling on a narrow strip of concrete? No. The prohibition of biking on sidewalks is not directly prohibited in natural law. Instead the law is put in place so that if an officer sees someone who appears to be recklessly biking on sidewalks creating a hazard to other pedestrians he can stop him and cite him. Without the law the officer needs to establish some evidence that the way the cyclist was riding was a hazard to others. That is difficult to do. So an outright prohibition on biking on sidewalks is made to simplify the officer's job, with the hope that the officers will excersize good judgment and not begin hauling in 100's of kids ages 6-10.

So am I an Outlaw for keeping chickens? I suppose I am. But you can add that to my long list of violations such as; biking on sidewalks, jay-walking, running stop signs while on a bike, driving 5 mph over the speed limit, discharging a BB-gun in the backyard, playing loud music, allowing knoxious weeds to grow in my yard, bounced a check once.

Now if the city fathers tell you to get rid of your chickens and you don't that's a different story.