How to raise poultry with neighbors?

[Mo_fawaazzz]

Chickens dont know how to only eat pests and avoid native plants. They'll eat native plants and that is a violation, citation with a fine from the County.

Depends on your county laws. Mine do not care about native shrubbery.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

uhh I am guessing that if the county does not say its illegal then its pretty sure legal... :/

I gotta leave this thread but first some respectful advice, EMAIL a county code enforcement officer to confirm your logic. It's in your best interest to not be caught off guard and then you can feel confident. It's really that easy.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Depends on your county laws. Mine do not care about native shrubbery.

Yes they do. Especially if it's native plants under conservation.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

If something isn't explicitly mentioned in a bylaw, that does not make it legal by default. A lot of bylaws aren't detailed enough to list every single possible case scenario. So if poultry aren't explicitly banned from the woods, that doesn't mean it's legal to let them roam there. It just means that that area of law isn't defined, maybe because there hasn't been a need so far. But if you let them roam and people take note, they can raise the issue before the authorities and ask for the bylaw to be amended to specifically address poultry in the woods. And then you may get yourself an actual explicit ban. Towns are having to do a lot of clarifications and amendments to local bylaws with regards to chickens, now that they are becoming so popular and towns are finding themselves lacking specific, explicit regulations. So people exploit the void and assume anything is legal by default if not specifically banned, and they overstep all kinds of good will and tolerance their neighbors may give them, because "it's not illegal". And you end up with battles and animosity, and some towns responding by putting in place explicit bans that are much harsher than necessary, because they don't want to deal with neighbor disputes. So the entitled people who overstep what is reasonable and respectful of their surroundings, end up ruining poultry-keeping for the whole town by bringing on restrictions and bans.

It is not illegal for me to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk. But are you telling me I still cannot do that because it never said its legal? The County laws do not mention all the legal things for you to do!
Do I gotta call my sheriffs office to ask them permission to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk?

My county regulations even allows a small number of free range chickens, but the coop has to be a distance from my house, no taller than a specific height, and my neighbors have to be ok with any possible noise.

 

[LRH97]

It is not illegal for me to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk. But are you telling me I still cannot do that because it never said its legal? The County laws do not mention all the legal things for you to do!
Do I gotta call my sheriffs office to ask them permission to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk?

My county regulations even allows a small number of free range chickens, but the coop has to be a distance from my house, no taller than a specific height, and my neighbors have to be ok with any possible noise.

You reside in VA? Did I understand that correctly?

 

[ShrekDawg]

uhh I am guessing that if the county does not say its illegal then its pretty sure legal... :/

I didn’t say it was illegal. I said it wasn’t right. There’s a difference.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I gotta leave this thread but first some respectful advice, EMAIL a county code enforcement officer to confirm your logic. It's in your best interest to not be caught off guard and then you can feel confident. It's really that easy.

I gotta leave too

 

[K0k0shka]

It is not illegal for me to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk. But are you telling me I still cannot do that because it never said its legal? The County laws do not mention all the legal things for you to do!
Do I gotta call my sheriffs office to ask them permission to do 18 pushups on the sidewalk?

My county regulations even allows a small number of free range chickens, but the coop has to be a distance from my house, no taller than a specific height, and my neighbors have to be ok with any possible noise.

If your pushups start becoming a problem in some way and if people complain, you can be sure that there's a way they can become illegal. You don't own the sidewalk either, after all, so it's not up to you to decide how you use it (you can't build on it for example, or block it, etc. so it's already a regulated space that doesn't belong to you).

 

[LRH97]

Assuming the OP lives in the US state of Virginia as I have assumed from previous posts in this thread, this should answer any further questions and (hopefully) put the thread to rest:

§ 55.1-2820. When unlawful for animals to run at large.​

It is unlawful for the owner or manager of any domesticated livestock to permit any such animal, as to which the boundaries of lots or tracts of land have been or may be constituted a lawful fence, to run at large beyond the limits of his own lands within the county, magisterial district, or portion of such county in which such boundaries have been constituted and are a lawful fence.

Code of Virginia

See link below.


https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter28/section55.1-2820/#:~:text=It is unlawful for the,portion of such county in


I too, need to leave the thread.

 

[K0k0shka]

Assuming the OP lives in the US state of Virginia as I have assumed from previous posts in this thread, this should answer any further questions and (hopefully) put the thread to rest:

§ 55.1-2820. When unlawful for animals to run at large.​

It is unlawful for the owner or manager of any domesticated livestock to permit any such animal, as to which the boundaries of lots or tracts of land have been or may be constituted a lawful fence, to run at large beyond the limits of his own lands within the county, magisterial district, or portion of such county in which such boundaries have been constituted and are a lawful fence.

Code of Virginia

See link below.


https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title55.1/chapter28/section55.1-2820/#:~:text=It is unlawful for the,portion of such county in


I too, need to leave the thread.

Amen! Thank you. Now the thread can rest in peace.