Got illegal chickens?

[Cuttlefishherder]

Only our coop placement is illegal. Its supposed to be 50 ft away from other residents but ours is in the side yard. We have 8 laying hens 3 pullets a cockerel(due to be sold) and 4 month and a 1/2 old chicks in the brooder.. and a goose. The Legal number is 24 Fowl. We aren't really sure about the goats but they are nice and quiet.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Quote:
If you ever go 61 mph on a 60 mph highway, you are a hypocrite

If you have to stick to the letter of the law we are in big trouble in the UK. Its still on the books that its illegal to eat mince pies on christmas day.

 

[chkinut]

i'm about 1/3 of the way done reading this thread, and i plan to read it in its entirety. I have had illegals (4 girls) for a year now. i asked my closest neighbors if they would mind BEFORE i got them. they were fine with it. but by the start of this new year i realized that 4 were not enough...so i've been hatching eggs and also buying a batch from a hatchery. i will have about 12 - 13 chickens temporarily. i plan to start out with more than i need so i can weed out the loud girls and also give away some girls that lay the same color egg (except for a few brown egg layers). i plan on keeping 8 when all is said and done. i'm working on getting a rainbow of egg layers and so far (with my chicks) i have some very dark brown egg layers, some olive eggers, some easter eggers, and a couple regular brown egg layers and a couple white egg layers (the white egg layers are a Sizzle/Leghorn cross and they are currently in the bator). i have a 6 ft high privacy fence. i gave 2 of my original 4 girls away due to the fact that one of my Easter Eggers was LOUD when she sang the egg song. so i gave her away with her BO friend. the BO was quiet, but i wanted to give her away with a chicken friend that she knew so she wouldn't feel scared or out of place in her new home. my other adult EE i have is VERY quiet!! she doesn't even sing the egg song! my adult SCM (silver cuckoo marans) sings the egg song, but it sounds muffled and it's not very loud. i have heard that Black Austrolorps are VERY quiet! if i get turned in, i will get them next! so i guess in short, all is well for ME with my illegal gals. i have a pretty big back yard and they all free range and their eggs are wonderful tasting!! they make store bought eggs taste like tasteless rubber! Good luck! you should be fine if you ask your close neighbors and you have a privacy fence or bushes etc.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
You got it in one. Your daughter is lucky to have you around to remind her. And her neighbors are lucky!

We homeschool also - and I actually wonder if that is a part of this woman's beef. She hasn't said anything about it, but she moved into the neighborhood a couple years before us, when it was almost solely the older folks who moved in as young families when the subdivision was being built... 45 years ago. In the last 6-8 years (we have been here ~6, she was sweet for the first 4... pre-chickens) there has been a massive generational turnover and the neighborhood is filled with kids. Great for our kids, but I can see how it could be upsetting to someone who thought she was moving into a quiet area. Kids are noisy (far more than chickens!) and messy (despite parents' best efforts... though I must admit it didn't seem like a big deal to leave their toys around our backyard!). Our kids are home all day long, on top of that - although I make every effort to be quieter during "school hours" and my kids are hands-down the most polite in the neighborhood (they know not to hold down a doorbell forever, always greet adults with a smile, etc.)... the other kids are great, but I am aware that we have to hold a higher standard in order to keep the neighbors friendly.

I think this woman would like to be the "Nice Old Lady" but doesn't *really* like kids.

It's a great neighborhood in many ways... but I am so ready to be done with neighbors. After the CPS visit I was afraid to let the kids play out front for close to a year! And it turns out it was the backyard I needed to be paranoid over...

Sigh.

Bless you for being a good grandma to your daughter's neighborhood. They may never know it, but please accept my thanks on their behalf. She sounds like a nice person... we all get a little silly and it's a question of whether we, or someone near us, can bring us back before we act. (That's usually my husband's role in our family... but he was peeved this time... it's been interesting...)

Kerridwen

Sounds like your pesky neighbor needs a hobby! If I were in your shoes I'd be going over there to have a little chat with her upon giving her gifts of knitting supplies or something. Ask her why is she making big deals out of nothing? My neighbors and I have an understanding here, if they should have a problem with the birds in any way, we resolve the problem immediately without the authorities being called. IE: the back yard wasn't fenced in much, just at the very back and half way up one side so one of my big roosters at the time saw it fit to go hang out in the neighbors garage, on top of his fancy monte carlo.... The neighbor came to us right away, the next day we put a chicken wire fence up and solved that issue. At one time we had to many roosters and one in particular was a real noise maker, neighbor had come to us asking us what we can do about that noisey rooster, I told him not a problem he would be gone tomorrow and he was. Perhaps having a civil conversation with this woman would help clear the air?

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
WOW i am surprised the city didn't make ya move the structure. When we built our new coop last year (10 by 16) the city inspector was crawling all over us and made us move that thing forward about 4 ft. Thank god for towing chains and a big truck.

 

[silkeysandra]

Quote:
I would make sure I have good documentation on all these episodes, like names of those who responded and found no problem, etc. I'd then tell the neighbor I was getting a lawyer and suing for harassment, which is causing mental anguish. If the neighbor called my bluff and continued making calls, I would make good on my threat and sue. Hopefully, just the threat of costing them legal fees will be enough to stop the ridiculous calls.

I second the notion. Get the names of these officials. Make a 'flyer' to put on several of the neighbor's doors (you can include a note to disregard if neighbor is nice) that says 'The unwarranted and frivilous calls to county and city officials to our home has caused us to hire an attorney to potentially sue for harrassment" Put on the 'flyer' that you love your neighborhood and the many wonderful neighbors you have come to know. Now that officials have identified the person, our attorney will be in contact."
That should shut the old b-----h up. AND maybe make her move!!! Stand your ground! They are hoping you will move. It's your turn to make their lives miserable! You go girl! Oh, and DO make sure you have a friend or relative in the law business to use as a contact in case the old witch calls your bluff. : )

 

[starbugs]

I just had to jump in with a funny story. We also have 3 'illegal' chicks that will be going out to a small coop in a few weeks.
Our UPS man (who is also a friend and goes to our church) came by the other day and noticed our small coop on the side of the
driveway ~ our driveway is very secluded. (we haven't gotten the coop all put together yet) - He asked our son if we were getting chickens. My son hesitatingly said, 'yes', not knowing what our UPS friend might say. The UPS guy just laughed and told him that there were at least 5 other families in our gated community with chickens AND, BEST OF ALL, one family is keeping a COW in their garage and milking it for cheese and yogurt every day!!

We all laughed and laughed! He's a great sport and would never say a word. He said he even went home and measured HIS garage to see if he could house a cow! (I'm feeling much better knowing I'm not the only 'illegal' chicken keeper in my neighborhood.) ha!!

 

[ScotianChick]

I'd do it. It's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.

I would make an adorable little coop that looks like a play house or a doll house. I would have it at as a tractor though so you can move it around, don't free range for heaven's sake. I'd also get silkies. I hear they're quiet and they barely even look like a chicken. At first glance people may think you have three fluffy white dogs hanging out by their adorable little dog house.

I actually never did find out if chickens here are legal but I live in a small fishing village outside of town. I know people in my village with chickens, goats, horses, you name it. So I assume I'm cool. My only issue and I pray nobody notices... sometimes my chickens wander into the graveyard next door. I always chase them back but I don't always catch them quick. I hope to God I don't get complaints and lose them. There's a fence there but the darn things will walk into the road to get around it!

 

[mlregalado]

I was really hesitant to post because technically chickens are illegal here. They are considered livestock and you can't have them in the city limits. I am one street from being outside city limits and one of my neighbors has chickens. I'll probably have to bribe one of my neighbors with eggs but I'm going to go for it!

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Last Sunday I officially got an illegal chicken.

Now I've got seven chickens total