Is a Chicken considered a "bird"?

[Penturner]

Chickens are birds. So any rules regarding birds would apply to them as well as the parrot, parakeet, other exotics, doves, raptors of any kind or pigeons that are kept by many city dwellers. So in order to discriminate against certain birds they had to come up with things like Poultry. I often wonder why anybody with a checkbook can bring home flocks of very very noisy parrots but it takes an act of congress to allow anyone to have a chicken. I personally knew of one lady that had over 30 exotic birds in a rented apartment and nobody could do a thing about it. the place stunk to high heaven and the humidity was unbelievable. In some places it was actually causing the paper from the sheetrock to peel off. I am looking into this myself to see if Grey Jungle Fowl fall into one of those blessed catagories that have no regulation.

 

[feathersnuggles]

In our city ordinance, they're not called poultry, they're called domestic fowl.

 

[PineappleMama]

In our city's code all fowl are lumped together... ducks, chickens, geese... same boat... they specify Order Anseriformes & Order Galliformes... my topic Our City has the whole shebang, but that's the basic bit... though... come to think of it... they don't define fowl as being those... just say Anseriformes can't be at large and Galliformes must be in a pen... Hmmm... Loophole?

Well, here's what Webster says...

Main Entry: 1 fowl
Pronunciation: \\ˈfau̇(-ə)l\\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural fowl or fowls
Etymology: Middle English foul, from Old English fugel; akin to Old High German fogal bird, and probably to Old English flēogan to fly — more at fly
Date: before 12th century

1 : a bird of any kind — compare waterfowl, wildfowl
2 a : a cock or hen of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus); especially : an adult hen b : any of several domesticated or wild gallinaceous birds — compare guinea fowl, jungle fowl
3 : the meat of fowls used as food

Gotta love #1... by that definition anyone who's got too many parrots is in violation... but I reckon they're leaning towards #2... *sigh*

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

Quote:
i think i would just tell them the breeds since i have the more exotic sounding ones-Faverolles, Orpingtons, Cochins, how many people you know would know that those are chicken breeds and not a type of fancy parrots/finches!

(besides us crazy chicken people!)

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

My brother now has three silkies. Chickens were not allowed in the neighborhood.
He just told them that they were the rare chinese flightless silkies and
the neighbors brag about having rare birds in the neighborhood
and even bringing their friends over to look at the rare birds.

When he asked them for an approval application he put on said application
Gallus gallus domesticus (Chinese Flightless Silkies). It was approved.

Go figure

 

[TomKat]

Quote:

I love it when education wins out. Thankfully the approver of applications didn't own a dictionary.

 

[ArizonaNessa]

I read on here one time where a lady had 5 white silkies and they came to take her birds. She said she told them they were rare Chernobyl rabbits and that there was only 100 known to be left on the entire planet and that she had paid some crazy amount of money to have them legally shipped to her.....She got to keep her Chernobyl rabbits.

I personally knew someone that called bantam cochins Bolivian Love Parrots and got away with it. Now to answer your the original question, if it has feathers, two legs, lays eggs, and goes bok bok bok then what you have there is a lizard and there is nothing they can do about it. Believe it and it shall be.

 

[upthecreek]

Chickens are Birds !!! to say anything to the contrary is plain old Discrimination !!!!

 

[CityChicker]

I don't think it is a question of whether chickens are birds in the broad sense of the word. Everyone knows the answer to that. It is the *type* of bird they are. They are a type of bird that is still considered in most places considered to be livestock. Like it or not, that is the way it is. If you disagree with it and have legitimate reasons why you feel justified in disagreeing with the laws in your area, fight it. Many people have successfully fought and won (rightfully so, since so many of the chicken laws are ridiculous).

Almost all municipalities have ordinances regulating pet animals though. Chickens are not any exception and I am not sure why we think they should be. Yes, we should be allowed to keep them, but I don't expect that in areas other than totally rural areas we will ever escape some form of regulation. Dogs have to be licensed, they have to have proof of rabies vaccination, they have to be leashed in a lot of places, you have to pick up after them in most places, and on and on and on. There are also a number of places where the numbers of household pets are limited. There are some places here in which you are technically not allowed to have more than three dogs or cats. We used to breed parrots and we actually had to fulfill much stricter requirements than for our chickens. We had to get a bird breeder license, a registered band number, do sales records reported to the Dept. of Ag., and be inspected by them and we were not even a business.

 

[featherbaby]

Any neighbor who complains about quiet little hens in the back yard ought to live next to an outdoor aviary with one or more Large Cockatoos! They can be heard for MILES! I know, I have pet cockatoos indoors. Ehhh? What did you say??? Could you speak up a little louder? HAHAHAHAH! Fortunately mine are quieter than most larger ones, but I can still hear them vocalize when I'm outside in the garden even though there are no windows or doors open from the house. Woo hoo! Some people just don't know when they're well off.