I want chickens but Parma, Ohio prohibits it

[Champy831]

Hi everyone, I’m from Parma. I’m not allowed to own chickens, but I really want to. Is there a petition or anything I can sign so that I can own chickens, or like a loophole so that I can own chickens? Also does anyone know if there’s maybe a license I can get to allow me to have chickens?

 

[Fallenone05]

Read the code. I linked it on page one.

(a) The owning, keeping or harboring of any wild, dangerous, poisonous or exotic animal, including, but not limited to the animals listed below, is hereby prohibited within the City limits.

Parma, OH doesn't like animals. Any animals. Officially, you can't even drive thru the city with a pit bull mix in the back of your truck - even if you don't stop. The mere existence of the animal is illegal within city limits. Parma even requires dogs to be registered with the City. Nor any dog with even a drop of wolf genetics in its background.

(a) Except for guide, leader or listener dogs, or dogs in training to become guide, leader or listener dogs, registered under Ohio R.C. 955.011, and dogs kept by an institution or organization for teaching or research purposes under Ohio R.C. 955.16, no person shall own, keep or harbor a dog more than three months of age without annually registering such dog with the County Auditor. No owner/guardian of a dog, except a dog constantly confined to a registered kennel, shall fail to require the dog to wear, at all times, a valid tag issued in connection with a certificate of registration. Failure of any dog at any time to wear a valid registration tag shall be prima facie evidence of lack of registration and subject such dog to impounding and disposition as provided by Ohio R.C. 955.16.
They don't treat cats in their ordinances much better.

The only thing I didn't find, which I've seen in other Ordinances, is a limit on how many dogs, cats, rabbits, canaries, and/or parakeets one may own in one's home, but if I dig more deeply, I could likely find a section of code the city might use for that purpose.

Parma sounds like a horrible place to live. So many arbitrary rules to animal ownership. :/

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Move.

Parma, OH is hostile to poultry ownership.

There was a 2009? news article about their efforts to close a loophole which allowed people to raise chickens, caged, inside their homes. The revised ordinance foreclosed that posibility, retroactively.

Normally, you might apply for an exemption to allow you to raise chickens on property which was too small, or the wrong zoning, or whatever - but Parma doesn't allow chickens, period. Nor do they seem to be amenable to the idea of allowing chickens in the future.

***UNLESS*** money is no object. Then make your home a school, and raise chickens as a school project - its the one exception I could find. [Seriously, don't try this]

So, the short term fix is "move".

On a longer time horizon, vote the current city leadership out, replace with pro-poultry candidates, and let them revise your Ordinances.

 

[FloorCandy]

Have you considered quail? I can’t have chickens in my town, but there’s nothing on the books about game birds. I called the State fish and wildlife dept and they said Bob whites require a permit, but Coturnix are exempt. I’ve found raising quail to be very fun. While I still hope to move in the future and have chickens, quail scratch the itch so to speak. They are also smaller, and can’t be free ranged so they require less space, the males crows are much softer than normal chicken and rooster noises. The female Coturnix usually sound like crickets.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Have you considered quail? I can’t have chickens in my town, but there’s nothing on the books about game birds. I called the State fish and wildlife dept and they said Bob whites require a permit, but Coturnix are exempt. I’ve found raising quail to be very fun. While I still hope to move in the future and have chickens, quail scratch the itch so to speak. They are also smaller, and can’t be free ranged so they require less space, the males crows are much softer than normal chicken and rooster noises. The female Coturnix usually sound like crickets.

The owning or keeping of any fowl, including, but not limited to [...] within the City limits is hereby prohibited.

That's Parma, OH's very effective use of legalese to say "NO!"

They specifically except, using much more narrow language, some small "pet" bird species like parakeets and cockateil.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Why does it have to be chickens?

I'll start with the fact I didn't read the whole thread. Have you considered keeping quail instead ( Coturnix Japonica is the most common type kept)? Small, quiet, eggs galore, and meat too if you want. Very rare to be mentioned in any livestock regulations, and easily kept inside if needed.

Coturnix are native to Japan. Banned by Parma's Code. I didn't link the section, but if they want to enforce it, basically anything not native to Ohio they can exclude at will - even big floppy Flemish rabbits.

They have another section banning wild birds, and tame wild birds. So no blue jays, robbins, cardinals, crows...

If they want to be an @$$ about it. And seemingly, Parma wants to reserve that possibility for itself.

 

[MadamContrary]

Coturnix are native to Japan. Banned by Parma's Code. I didn't link the section, but if they want to enforce it, basically anything not native to Ohio they can exclude at will - even big floppy Flemish rabbits.

They have another section banning wild birds, and tame wild birds. So no blue jays, robbins, cardinals, crows...

If they want to be an @$$ about it. And seemingly, Parma wants to reserve that possibility for itself.

Yeah. I'd move for sure. Animal hating people are not good people.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Would home school count? Maybe with 4H/FFA membership?

??? Seems like quite a drive twice a day.

"
(b) The owning or keeping of any fowl, including, but not limited to domestic geese, ducks, turkeys, and chickens within the City limits is hereby prohibited. However:

(1) Schools are not prohibited from raising chicks and/or ducks for educational purposes; and

(2) When finished or no later than two weeks after the chicks and/or ducks have hatched, the schools must give the fowl to a farm authorized to handle such animals."


Believe it or not, I couldn't quickly find a definition for "School" in the Parma code, but I wouldn't try it.

 

[Brooks_]

the schools must give the fowl to a farm authorized to handle such animals.

Something brought me back to re-read and this part really bothers me.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

It's probably so someone can't just take them home and say they're a farm. They might have a specific permit in the towb/city for people that are allowed to have specific animals

Not in Parma. There is no permit process in the Code, and the current city leadership seems downright hostile to the idea of chickens - and has for some time.

THIS is the sole code exception.

I wouldn't offer even the illusion of hope. Seems cruel.