I hope you'll bear with me here a little bit...this may not be the absolute right place to post this as I am facing an uninformed Village Board trying to oust chickens form our tiny rural village. I served on that board and I know what the ordinance says and it does not prohibit chickens! But the powers that be say that keeping chickens is a health hazard to the community! I don't have my girls yet, maybe this weekend. But I think this statement is an absolute sign of ignorance. I don't know alot about chicken keeping yet, but what I have learned, especially from this forum, is that if there is a hazard to health it is because of the WAY you keep your chickens and it is to the CHICKENS, not to humans. Am I right here? Please give me your input here. I will be making an appearance at the next scheduled meeting in defense of my neighbors who keep chickens, and hopefully by that time, ME too!
You might talk to your county extension agent. Any information coming from them will carry more weight than anything we tell you. It would help to know what health hazards they are considering so you would know what to address. There can be health hazards but they can be mitigated. And a private fact-finding discussion may clear the air and stop it in its tracks. Is it avian flu or some other disease they think are transmitted by chickens? Are they concerned about diseases transmitted by the droppings? It is a lot easier to address specific questions instead of generalities. If you address the avian flu question and the concern is droppings, you have lost points in the debate. And you have introduced a new concern. Many pets can be health hazards to people. They have droppings that have to be managed or they draw flies and they can stink. Animals die and the bodies have to be disposed of. You might address these concerns by comparing a chicken to a dog, amount of droppings, body disposal, whatever. Are they proposing to eliminate dogs? But a quick-thinking person may counter that licenses are required for dogs to help pay for the disposal of the bodies, so we want to license chickens. When you introduce a new topic, you expand the debate. And animals can be a nuisance. Some places have ordinances about loud dogs, so don't be surprised if there is a ban on roosters. There are leash laws, so you may need to confine your chickens. You might even agree to work with them on a reasonable list of restrictions to help keep the complaints down and avoid future changes. At least you would be helping to shape those restrictions. And I don't mean to especially pick on dogs. I've got two so it is an easy comparison for me. They can be loud, there are droppings to manage, and they can be a nuisance. Good luck!
