How many of you have chickens illegally

[Imp]

I'm allowed 5 hens and have 5 hens. So I guess I'm legal. But I can't believe I'm hanging out with all you criminals. BYC must really be a chicken gang. I keep reading about chicken smuggling, chicken doping, and chicken porn. What to do?

Guess I'd better get at least 1 more.

Good Luck with your invisible chickens.

Imp-I'm such a joiner.

 

[citalk2much]

 

[sandyj]

If you are in the city limits, I'd be concerned about having 25 st run chickens. Our city you can have 6 hens but no roosters. If you get 1/2 roosters from that batch of 25, that would be quite a few roosters. The cock-a-doodle-dooing could get you into trouble. If you have any "problem"

neighbors, that could be a problem!! Good luck!!!
sandyj

 

[sandyj]

Mahonri,
Everytime I see that picture, it 1st startles me, then I laugh out loud because of the look on Kramer's face!

Gosh, I miss that show!
sandyj

 

[Dr.Doorlock]

We are allowed 2 hens and no roos. I had to drive 7 hours on Dec. 23rd to get just 8 hens from Ideal Poultry. They would only ship 25 lots so the chicks wouldn't get a chill. All is well. I have noisy streets on three sides of my house and Spanish speaking neighbors on the other side. They would love to trade a few REALLY good tamales for some Huevos Rancheros. They were really glad I was NOT the one who complained about the goat they had in their back yard. HEY! The baby needed the milk. Oh! And then there was the Sunday morning when we were having breakfast on the deck as we heard a pig squealing to it's death.

I hear a roo down the street every morning and it's music to my ears because they will get busted and I won't. I'm more worried they will say my windmill is too high.

 

[gardener]

Awesome I love all this. Like having a few animals is going to be a problem keeping the peace in our cities. I would rather hear an occaisional rooster crow or a pig squeal. Than a car squealing its tires or a train blowing it horn as it barrelling down the tracks and the constant sirens from emergency vehicles.

 

[mrandmrschicken]

We live in a small town and I honestly don't know what is legal or not when it comes to raising poultry. I figure if people can raise rabbits and noisey barking dogs, and all the dogs in our neighborhood use our yard for a dumping ground, (we live on a corner lot), then a few bantams would not hurt anyone as long as the neighbors didn't complain. An old saying goes, "Forge ahead and ask for forgiveness". We also live across the street from the high school. Except for the winter months, ours free range around the house and spend most of their time under the deck. It is bug heaven for them! Every day the small flock goes about the business of "landscaping" in the flower beds and along the foundation of the house. Most people don't even notice them. When they do they say, "they are so pretty, not like the kind we had", etc. Or, was that a chicken I saw in your yard?
This is what I have learned so far:1. People do a double take when driving by. Sometimes even back up and stare.2. Don't be like the people with the noisey barking dogs. Loud and or aggressive roosters do not belong in town. We had a Sebright rooster that had to move to the country. Not because of a complaint, because I stay keenly aware of whats going on. We have a Serama roo now that really doesn't crow loudly. He squeaks! Of course a pullet or hen will crow too if she thinks she is the alpha! 3. You are better off calling them ornamental poultry!4. Know your neighbors and respect their wishes. You know when you are pushing the boundries, don't pretend you don't.5. Have fun with the birds, let people and their kids see them and touch them. No rodeos. Let them know they are not mean or aggressive and they have nothing to fear but still need to respect them. 6. It is also important to let people know, if they ask, that your birds come from tested flocks or hatcheries. It reassures them of your awareness.
7. Train your birds to be herded and bread is a chickens best friend!
8. If your chickens keep the neighbor lady penned in her garden, by all means, move the birds!

 

[CallahanPeacocks&Poultry]

It's really a shame that so many cities ban chickens altogether. It's just the result of ignorance and prejudice.

Fortunately, I have a couple acres outside Alamogordo, NM limits and desert space around me. After my husband died 4 years ago, I embraced chicken addiction in earnest, and now have about 60 breeds of poultry plus peafowl plus dogs and cats and a couple EMUs. My critters have consumed about 3 tons of feed monthly at times, most of it bird food.

Recently a young woman who is blind, her husband, and a friend who live a few miles from here, in town, had nasty trouble from a neighbor over their 6 pet chickens which actually spent much of their time in the house with them, especially overnight. I give them credit that they looked into the possibility of changing the law here and kept those 5 hens and 1 rooster at home as long as they could. I'd heard that it's very difficult to get the law changed.

After a judge ordered them to remove their birds and they had a deadline, they brought them out to my place. They were afraid they'd be confiscated and destroyed. They were heartbroken. But they built a nice secure pen with 2 levels of enclosed area; and they love those birds more than most people love their dogs and cats, I'd say. They are here every day, sometimes 2 or 3 times, enjoying their beloved pets. These chickens have a thick bed of straw throughout their pen plus good alfalfa hay, regular feeds, and still get their daily cheese as they always did, and plenty of other goodies.

The nasty neighbor kept up the harrassment and even got the animal control officer to come to check on them the day they had to be removed. Then he gloated about his success. What a miserable person.

These people would move out of the city to keep their chickens and have been looking for a place. Meanwhile, they come often.

More power to anyone who can and will work to change these stupid laws. Now is probably the time, considering the economy and changing priorities. My contribution is letting visitors enjoy the multitude and variety of birds here, and selling some when I can.

For myself, I quit eating chicken some time ago.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
I look delicious don't I?

 

[Pluto]

We have three hens illegally in the City. 1/2 a mile away in the county you can have them with a few restrictions, but they are just banned here. It is complaint driven, they fine you $100 and "tell" you to get rid of them. The only neighbor that could ever find out about them/complain has 4 dogs that bark constantly, every time I walk out the door. I let it be, but you can bet there would be daily barking complaints to AC if anyone dared to report a little cackling (no roosters, not that you would be able to hear them over the barking). There is also a City barking ordinance. Before we got our hens I developed a backup plan and have a friend that will take them if need be.