Got illegal chickens?

[SpeedysBigRed]

Quote:
What if it was against the law to read your Bible? Would you turn it in? What if was against the law to go church? Discipline your children? own a gun? it is in a lot of countries and may not be that far off in this one. in Alabama there is a law on the books that says it's against the law to put an ice-cream cone in your pocket.

I don't think anyone is "flaunting" the law, but there is a point when one should question it and opt for common sense over common law. I see your point and respect it and I appreciate you pointing those things out.

But there is no law against reading the bible or going to church. Quite the contrary. Our religious freedoms are protected by The Constitution. So are our rights to own guns - though those are being seriously erroded. And, maizey, when one, or a group of people, go on a public forum and post that they keep illegal chickens, and make statements placing themselves above the law, they are "flaunting" the law. I definitely agree with you that there is a point when one should question a law, and attempt to have it changed, but not to disregard that law because they feel it is unjust.

 

[silkeysandra]

I'm somewhere in Grand Prairie where the law is to have housed hens only no closer than 150 feet from any building housing humans. That sorta cancells out most of surburbia around here.
I have 6 hens, 4 Silkeys and two Belgian Mille Fleurs. They all are very quiet and the neighbors are happy to receive poo for their gardens and eggs for breakfast. Although I don't get many eggs--they ARE exotics and only lay eggs when they are in the mood--it's enough to share a half-dozen every so often. We call our little chicken outfit, "Cluckin-Better Farm", home of the Happy Hen Hotel, hosted by us! We ARE the help! ha!
I don't know why anybody would object to hens. If you pick up or compost any poo, and don't overcrowd, there should never be an issue with smell. I get more nasty smells from my neighbor's dogs leavings than could ever be produced by a handfull of hens! I mean really!
Even where we are located, it is illegal as we are a little close to a couple neighbors. We do plan to move soon to larger more rural quarters and you can bet your tail feathers I am checking into ordinances before I look at land!

 

[backyardmenagerie]

"You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."" - Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Okay, maybe this is kinda extreme when talking about chickens, but the arguments on both sides made me think of this.

 

[silkeysandra]

yep!

 

[88Haywood88]

I though this thread was about fighting cocks

I don't have any, but I had to dub the combs of my roosters due to frostbite and that's illegal around here. It's a stupid law. Was i supposed to just let the dead tissue fall off and have it look terrible? I suppose I could have taken them to a vet, but that would have cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Islandlife]

We're allowed 3 chickens and basically I keep 3. They give lots of eggs - basically 1/chicken daily and I give all extras out to the neighbours who really appreciate them. Keep within the laws, do what you're supposed to and avoid all the headaches/heartaches and ill-will you'll feel if you're turned in. Change the covenants etc but doing anything illegal isn't really worth the extra 'worry' over it.

IF it is illegal and all your neighbours are 'on board' and you have 2 or 3 chickens in a small cute run where they never get out then it would probably be ok but why chance it. It is costly to get all the chicken stuff ready and then be shut down.

 

[MakNugget]

I don't, but it is too tempting!

The limit is 3 hens only, and I already have that already. It is possible to go up to 6 with a permit/inspection, but I'm too paranoid to try for it for fear my structure may need to meet some kind of building code. I wish I would have known about the permit beforehand as I'm pretty sure I would have been more open to the possibility of adding to my flock.

 

[maizey]

Quote:
What if it was against the law to read your Bible? Would you turn it in? What if was against the law to go church? Discipline your children? own a gun? it is in a lot of countries and may not be that far off in this one. in Alabama there is a law on the books that says it's against the law to put an ice-cream cone in your pocket.

I don't think anyone is "flaunting" the law, but there is a point when one should question it and opt for common sense over common law. I see your point and respect it and I appreciate you pointing those things out.

But there is no law against reading the bible or going to church. Quite the contrary. Our religious freedoms are protected by The Constitution. So are our rights to own guns - though those are being seriously erroded. And, maizey, when one, or a group of people, go on a public forum and post that they keep illegal chickens, and make statements placing themselves above the law, they are "flaunting" the law. I definitely agree with you that there is a point when one should question a law, and attempt to have it changed, but not to disregard that law because they feel it is unjust.

again, I appreciate your point of view, but I strongly disagree. You call it flaunting, but its true nature is Civil Disobedience. Civil disobedience has been called for in times past on greater issues than chicken keeping, and will continue to be one of the things that keeps government out of what we have left of personal freedom, at least for a little while longer. (Think of the underground railroad, those people were breaking the law-just one example that sprang to mind). Additionally, most "laws" regarding chicken keeping are more of an ordinance. If anyone here got busted, they would get a visit, or more likely a letter, from a planning and zoning official, not the police unless matters got nasty. So to speak of chicken keeping as a "law" is really giving it a bit more weight than it really has. You can't really balance the two on the same cosmic justice scale, if you know what I mean. As far as my example of what IF..you never answered the
question, interested in your response if you care to share it. I appreciate these opportunities to discuss differing opinions, keeps me on my
toes.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
Jim Crow was the law once, too (So was apartheid, and the Holocaust). Being the law doesn't means it's just. The law should not be blindly followed.

 

[maizey]

Quote:
Another good example...a much larger issue but illustrates the concept I was thinking along.