illinois towns that allow backyard chickens

[MnKHarden]

I'm in unincorporated West Chicago and very confused about if it's ok or not. I'm in Wayne Township and it's ok to have them in Wayne Township. When I called the county and asked if I could raise chickens as pets the answer was "NO" They didn't even ask where I lived! I tried to explain that I'm in unincorporated West Chicago, part of Wayne Township, He replied you need 5 acres for chickens and be zoned as agricultural.....HMMM, my neighbors in the town of Wayne (Wayne Township) can have them in their backyard. My other friend is zoned residential with 2 acres and has a horse.

So I gave up on the chickens for almost 2 years and this spring I got some chicks and we will see what happens

My coop is close to our house, with a cute fence around it and garden, so hopefully the neighbors don't call and complain. We also have a 6' semi-private fence around our property

 

[Cjimenez]

can someone please tell
me if we can have chickens???? i am an unicorporated sector of melrose park in cook county but neighboring towns have no chicken laws. however cook county says we can have chickens as long as we dont have roosters or kill them or dye them. who do i listen too?? please help!!!!!!!

 

[Cjimenez]

my situation now is ike yours in 2010.. what was your out come? did you keep your chickens? has anyone bothered you about them?

 

[MnKHarden]

my situation now is ike yours in 2010.. what was your out come? did you keep your chickens? has anyone bothered you about them?

We just got out chickens about 2 months ago, so far so good. I believe when you are unincorporated you have to follow the county ordinances not the city/town ordinances. So if Cook County says it's ok, I'd go for it

 

[maegaggles]

From what I've been able to tell, if you live in an unincorporated area you should be ok as long as your neighbors don't have a problem with it.

 

[Gargoyle]

I'm in unincorporated West Chicago and very confused about if it's ok or not. I'm in Wayne Township and it's ok to have them in Wayne Township. When I called the county and asked if I could raise chickens as pets the answer was "NO" They didn't even ask where I lived!

I tried looking though the Dupage county zoning code online, and all I could find were references to property over 5 acres that is zoned agricultural. In Kane county there is a classification for farmetttes in unincorporated areas, if I understand the code correctly I believe those are a minimum of 20,000 square feet and a minimum of 75 feet wide, and poultry has to be housed at least 100 feet away from the residence of anyone other than the property owner (so you can have the chickens next to your own house).
(note, an acre is about 45,500 s.f., so that zoning classification applies to a property a bit under a half acre).

Dupage ought to have something similar.

 

[Cjimenez]

thanks for responding... over a week ago we pur hased and brought home our chicks. we now have two isa browns and rwo silver wynadettes in ur laudry room. and we hope not to have any issues becausue they are sso darn cute.

Quote:

 

[mountanaman]

I tried looking though the Dupage county zoning code online, and all I could find were references to property over 5 acres that is zoned agricultural. In Kane county there is a classification for farmetttes in unincorporated areas, if I understand the code correctly I believe those are a minimum of 20,000 square feet and a minimum of 75 feet wide, and poultry has to be housed at least 100 feet away from the residence of anyone other than the property owner (so you can have the chickens next to your own house).
(note, an acre is about 45,500 s.f., so that zoning classification applies to a property a bit under a half acre).

Dupage ought to have something similar.

i think the consensus is that you can have chickens in unincorporated Dupage if:
1) you have 5+ acres and can be classified as "ag"
2) you have 40k sq ft (~1+ acre) and are in the 4H program
OR
3) you have less than a acre, your neighbors are cool and you don't get caught

chickens are not expressly permitted or prohibited by any ordinance or by zoning laws. but the default for zoning laws is that if something is not permitted, then it is prohibited. of course, this is all open to interpretation, but i'm guessing most folks at the county will come down opposed.

this is all very silly. it's time to get the code changed. Dupage should be progressive, ahead of the curve. the county likes to tout their 'sustainability' initiatives - time to walk the talk.

 

[Gargoyle]

but the default for zoning laws is that if something is not permitted, then it is prohibited. of course, this is all open to interpretation,

I wonder if a higher court would ever uphold something like that. IANAL, but that seems contrary to the founding principles of our nation.

 

[Lifestudent]

Belleville recently passed an ordinance officially allowing people who live in single family dwellings to have up to 3 hens. Swansea, which is right next to Belleville, rejected a similar ordinance.