Independence, MO

[devildogmrk]

Among all these posts about struggling to get laws changed I thought I would post a good news message. Here in Independence, MO after much debate and pushback the chicken raising folks here managed to get the laws changed to allow the residents to raise up to 20 chickens at their homes. This of course came with a set of stringent regulations that at first glance seem silly, and read like the only way you can do it is if your neighbors do not raise a fuss (not to noisy, not too smelly, stays in your yard, coop is at least 200 ft from any part of your neighbors house, etc) but do indeed allow you raise them in an urban area.

Considering no one in my neighborhood has any, I guess we are going to be a test of those regulations and their limits for my area. I am building a new coop that will keep them as hidden as possible while still giving them everything they need (air, sun, shelter, food, room to run, etc...). I will let you all know if I run into "problems" with the implementation of these regulations in my area.

Stay tuned and cross your fingers for me...

Devildogmrk
(its a U.S. Marine Thing)

 

[Mamma_Duck04]

Good for you! My mom lives over in Lawson, so I'm sorta interested in the whole area, I'm glad they are allowing it in an urban setting, I know Independence has some areas where there's enough privacy & space to allow for this. Where I'm at in VA, the city I'm in states you have to have 5 acres to have them, or they're plain not allowed (by city ordinance) & there's not even residential areas that HAVE 5 acres. There's some beautiful homes & areas in Independence & I think they just got prettier with the thought of some gorgeous chickies running around!!

 

[theghostandmrchicken]

YES, if one city in Missouri allows urban chickening than that would pressure other cities to allow urban chickens as well.

I live in the St. Louis area and we are allowed to have chickens, but the county is very ambigous on the ordinances on them (let's hope it stays way).

 

[scriptkiddie]

The law almost sounded like if your neighbors don't mind you can get away with it. I talked to my neighbors and they were all excited. In fact, now they tell me they enjoy sitting outside at dawn and dusk listening to them clucking. One neighbor lastnight asked if I could get a rooster.

 

[D D Backyard]

I live right here In Independence near the Independence Square....I have some eggs in the cooler~Bator right now. I am so happy I can have chickens. 20? WOW...I can get more! Are roosters okay too? And how many? I hear one every morning out my backdoor. This is gonna be such fun and excitement.

 

[heathermk2008]

Is there any new updates on this? I was thinking of moving back to Independence, MO, but now have 9 hens. I really don't want to get rid of them.

 

[ChickChickChicky]

I currently have 8 hens, but have had as many as 16 at one time. I live in Independence and haven't had any problems, I do have one neighbor who says he enjoys hearing the chickens (sometimes they can make a lot of noise) and the rest say nothing. I have another neighbor on the next block who has chickens also, she doesn't seem to have any problems with neighbors or the city either. To have 20 hens (legally) you need at least an acre of ground, otherwise I think the law here states that up to 6 hens (no roosters!) can be kept in a coop that's at least 50 feet away from all neighbors. I've lived in this town over 50 years, in my experience you can do anything you want as long as you don't rile a neighbor or a city politician. Do either one of those things and they're coming after you, otherwise they just don't care. My suggestion would be to keep the fact that you even have chickens a secret from your neighbors, until someone notices them and says something to you, in which case it's a good idea to start handing out free eggs.

 

[D D Backyard]

Hi...I live here and I hear roo's crow in my neighborhood...then again we live by a railroad track. So noise dont bother most of us here. However your not posed to have roo's. You can have up to 20 hens! However, I wouldn't have that many...I plan on selling some. The problem is when you have to order some the breeders sell them in batches of 15 chicks or more. It can be a pain to get them raise them and then and have to sell some. If we cant have roo's to keep our hens going to cut cost, then it makes it kinda pricy to keep them. But I dont short change folks, If I sell any hens they are way less than a year old that way they benefit from those many eggs after they start to lay. I will plan to keep a smaller amount but do love to have allot of eggs too.

Of course you have to take good care of them if there is smell or other problems the city can take them...especially if a neighbor dont enjoy the smell. But just spread the eggs around... they might not mind too much!

Come to think of it...My neighbor that has a roo...I think they keep him inside a large shed with the girls till he's done crowing...I never hear him crow after the wee morning hours. But I like to hear him. And Seramas are due to hatch this March 14th 2014 and I do plan to keep a roo of that breed.