How Do You Find The Laws On Chickens For Your State ?

[Trevor P O' NEILL]

COUSE I HAVE NO IDEA

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Hi Trevor. Usually, you are going to need to look more locally for the laws affecting chickens. Do you live in a municipality or in a rural area? For example, I live in Colorado outside of city limits. The laws that affect me are zoning ordinances passed by Garfield County. If I lived in town, I would have to follow the town ordinances. If I lived in a housing development that had a homeowner's association ("HOA"), I would have to follow those rules, too. Often you can find these ordinances and rules online, but not always. Some states do not have "counties," they have parishes or provinces. It depends on where you are - but there is almost certainly someone who has some rules that apply to your patch of ground. I am lucky. I live on land zoned "agricultural/industrial." In my state this means I can have as many chickens as I can humanely care for. If I lived in a neighboring town just a few miles down the road, I could only have 2 chickens. If I lived in the HOA across the river, I couldn't have any chickens.

If you post more information, I would be happy to help you track down any info available on-line. What state, county, town, HOA do you live in?

 

[Trevor P O' NEILL]

I Live In Merril O.R IT'S BY KLAMATH FALLS

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Hi Trevor. Merrill doesn't have its municipal code online. I suggest that you start with the Klamath County folks. Sounds like Klamath understands and appreciates agriculture. That is a good sign.

Here's the phone number: (541) 883-5121. Call them up tomorrow and say that you want to find out what rules apply to agricultural use of your land. Ask them what planning zone your property is in, or if you are governed by a specific town code. Most county officials are delighted to help you figure out what the rules are. The municipalities tend to be where the stricter rules come in. The County folks should be able to help you find the Merrill muni code, if there is one. Some small towns don't have a municipal code that affects zoning, and some do. If you are not in the town limits, or if your town doesn't have a muni code for zoning, you will be governed by the county rules. The county zoning sounds promising. If you are "rural residential" you can have up to 24 small animals. If you are "suburban residential" you can have up to 24 small animals per acre; etc Here's the county website with the zoning info:

http://www.co.klamath.or.us/ComDevelopment/Planning/G. Chapter 5REV.pdf

Trevor, do you live on a large lot of land? Are you actually in the town limits? Do you have a HOA in your neighborhood?

Good luck!

 

[Trevor P O' NEILL]

we live out in the country and have lots of land thats for sure I could have by the est you gave me have about 2040 to 5000 or enough to make a chicken army

 

[NewHopePoultry]

I cant find info on mine either

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

As was stated, you need to check city or county ordinances and zoning code. There are very few state laws about keepng chickens.

 

[Frizzy Chicks]

I went onto my Counties website and went to zoning and ordinances. Then I had to search but thats where I started. Hope this helps

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Quote:
Hi Marybeth. Here's a link to Troy's website: http://cityoftroymissouri.com/boards-commissions/planning-zoning/

The muni code is posted online, but does not address animals. I suspect that you will find the answer in the city zoning rules, which I did not find online. I suggest that you determine what zoning applies to your property - and then contact the City for the rules applicable to your zoning. You do not have to mention that you are inquiring about chickens. You may be able to determine your zoning from the county assessor tax notice. In Colorado most assessors post real estate information on line, and you can actually look up your property in the county database to determine the applicable zoning. I don't know if Missouri does that or not.

Good luck!

 

[onecent]

Hi, we also have a link here at BYC's you can look to see if your city or town is on there

https://www.backyardchickens.com/laws/search.php