Fighting Rooster Town Laws

[Age-of-Goositude]

Hey I'm in Washington State and I want to know how to make a case and fight for the rights for roosters to be in town. So many people want to keep their boys and dogs are more obnoxious than roosters and roosters are able to be kenneled and contained at night into early morning so I don't see why people cant keep them so many are dumped around big cities because people can't find places for them to go and I feel like if they were more understood they would be able to stay and that would make more homes for them even if there's a limit on how many someone could have and aside from that chickens are becoming popular house pets. Will you help me on my quest?

 

[Brahmachicken240]

 

[Acre4Me]

Hey I'm in Washington State and I want to know how to make a case and fight for the rights for roosters to be in town. So many people want to keep their boys and dogs are more obnoxious than roosters and roosters are able to be kenneled and contained at night into early morning so I don't see why people cant keep them so many are dumped around big cities because people can't find places for them to go and I feel like if they were more understood they would be able to stay and that would make more homes for them even if there's a limit on how many someone could have and aside from that chickens are becoming popular house pets. Will you help me on my quest?

More info needed.

You must be in a town, within the limits. Is this true?

Does the town have restrictions in place? If so, restrictions on roosters only, or number of chickens and no roosters? What are those specifics?

Has anyone before you tried to change any rules/ordinances?

Are you in an HOA?

Too many roosters is an age-old problem, even outside of towns. 1:1 is not needed and can cause problems, so will always be a problem, usually solved with a stew pot.

Also, yes, many dogs are obnoxious, barking at all hours, but some roosters are equally as obnoxious. We had two cockerels that simply would not shut up except for complete darkness. They went to freezer camp. So, understand that if a block full of neighbors (say 20 homes if they are compact city lots) each had a rooster, it would be loud. Same if they all had dogs.

More info, please.

 

[Age-of-Goositude]

More info needed.

You must be in a town, within the limits. Is this true?

Does the town have restrictions in place? If so, restrictions on roosters only, or number of chickens and no roosters? What are those specifics?

Has anyone before you tried to change any rules/ordinances?

Are you in an HOA?

Too many roosters is an age-old problem, even outside of towns. 1:1 is not needed and can cause problems, so will always be a problem, usually solved with a stew pot.

Also, yes, many dogs are obnoxious, barking at all hours, but some roosters are equally as obnoxious. We had two cockerels that simply would not shut up except for complete darkness. They went to freezer camp. So, understand that if a block full of neighbors (say 20 homes if they are compact city lots) each had a rooster, it would be loud. Same if they all had dogs.

More info, please.

I'm zoned for them and out of City limits, I don't kill any of my birds and dont support killing them, and the actual town doesn't allow roosters I haven't attempted anything like this before which is why I'm wondering the process so I can attempt it

 

[Acre4Me]

I'm zoned for them and out of City limits, I don't kill any of my birds and dont support killing them, and the actual town doesn't allow roosters I haven't attempted anything like this before which is why I'm wondering the process so I can attempt it

Well, sounds like you are looking for a problem to solve. A problem that you don't actually have. A person in the town limits may or may not have the option of keeping chickens (you have not said). So, is the fight solely for male chicken possession? Or for male and female chicken possession?

Do you have any numbers or stats to back up you fight? Because you need to know if there are people who WANT male chickens in the town limits first. You need to find out how many noisy dog complaints there are (since you are using this for comparison). You should have information on the noise level and frequency of crowing from male chickens. Not all male chickens are "misunderstood" - some are actually mean (liability), some are actually very noisy (disturbing the peace), and there would need to be some limits placed. Don't forget, chickens are classified as livestock.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I keep roosters... and would NOT get on board with ANY town allowing them.

Everyone has the right to move to the country if they want to keep farm animals. But people living in cities can't move to the country to get away from a rooster crowing... which by the way even total darkness won't achieve sometimes.

Yes, I agree that dogs can be a problem. There are ordinances that address it and people can call animal control to report nuisance animals.

Just because some people are irresponsible and dump their animals doesn't mean the whole city should suffer roosters having crow offs even at all hours of the day... my husband works night. Everybody wants to fight for THEIR right but I'm thankful to have an attitude that consider my neighbors peace of mind and well being!

If more people who ended up with roosters (especially those who hatch or buy straight run) were honest with themselves about the circle of life and the fact that many of them eat super market chicken, if they had better understanding of what HUMANE actually is, they would be more likely to allow them to go for processing then just dumping an ill equipped animal to fend for itself in unknown territory.

City's bending to meet those who don't care about the law anyways is NOT the solution to too many unwanted roosters. Neither is ruining life so many unwitting neighbors who BOUGHT their home in a peaceful location.

Good luck though... it's nice that you are having a thought process to try be helpful to others!

 

[PirateGirl]

If you are looking to change an ordinance within a town I would recommend looking at the town government website. There should be contact information on there for your town elected officials. Meeting or even just calling or emailing one of them would point you in the right direction as to the avenue that you need to take to try to change any town ordinance. I would imagine that you would need to put together a proposal to be presented at a town meeting and then there would be some sort of public commentary period where people can voice either support or objection, and it would likely eventually go to a vote, but each town will have a specific process for how ordinances are made/changed.