Madison, WI (and surrounding areas)- chicken friendly?

[alicefelldown]

BF is entertaining a job offer in Madison, WI - how is the chicken 'scene' there? The City Chicken website lists some cities, Madison included, but I am completely unfamiliar with the area and commute times.

Is there anywhere we could live and have a decent number of hens and roos near Madison, WI?

WI
Caledonia, WI. A recent fight with city hall here resulted in a no-chickens-allowed ordinance. There are a number of articles on-line about the debate in this city.
Ellsworth, WI. Pierce County has a medical officer do a visual check of your property. A permit of $50 is required. Up to 10 hens allowed. Keeping birds in a chicken tractor would keep you from having to get a building permit.
Fond du Lac, WI. No chickens allowed in this city as they are considered a public nuisance.
Greebay, WI. The law reads: May have 4 birds over 8 inches tall per residence plus a clutch or part of a clutch for 8 weeks.
Madison, WI. Up to four chickens per household. Not allowed to roam free. Keep pen 25 ft. from neighbors. $10 annual permit required. Hens only; no roosters allowed.
Shorewood Hills, WI. It is said that the village Clerk keeps six hens. Noise and smell are regulated, but not the number of chickens. ​

 

[beckyschicks]

I live an hour northwest of there and there are alot of outlying cities that are rural. My suggestion is to get a small hobbie farm, close to one of the freeways, and commute. That area of wi is really pretty. Also depending on how far your BF is willing to travel for work you can find little farm towns around there too. There are a couple of people on here that are in that area maybe they can help you more. I'll look around for some info, if I find anything I'll let you know.

 

[ZohBug]

You can read more about having chickens in MadTown at www.madcitychickens.com. The city allows 4 hens (no roosters) in a single family home and the coop has to be at least 25ft from the neighbor's residence. Depending on where in Madison your BF is looking at for employment, other nearby towns to consider just south of Madison are Stoughton and Oregon. I've some friends who live in Oregon, and while they don't have chickens, they do have llamas, goats, rabbits, dogs, etc. There are lots of farms in Stoughton so at least part of the town is zoned for agriculture. Both Stoughton and Oregon would be about 20 - 25 minute drives from downtown Madison.

If you want to go west of the city, Mt. Horeb and Mazomanie are about 15-20 miles west and both have agricultural zoning. East of the city you may want to check into Sun Prairie and Cottage Grove. I know that Sun Prairie has some farmland and I think Cottage Grove may as well though I'm not completely sure on that one. SP and CG would be about 25-30mins from downtown Madison.

What I've heard is that for land to be zoned as agricultural in WI, it's supposed to be at least 3 acres. However, there are lots of properties and small towns that have been grandfathered in.

I don't know much about chickens yet, but we've been in MadTown for almost 3yrs, so if you need more info, I can ask around with my friends who have farms.

 

[alicefelldown]

Wow - I'd known about the MadCity Chickens thing but I didn't realize that it was MADison!

I will go watch that now.

That is very good news about the short commutes for local farm areas.. our usual commutes are hour plus!

I will probably bug you for more information (hopefully) soon ZohBug! Thanks!!

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Its actual 5 acres for ag land (check because some townships have different rules and to be grandfathered in you need to be the owner when the ordnance changed) and it has to be farmed in some way, not just a hobby farm, but most subdivisions will not allow 'farm' animals but rural property does plus the 5 acres is more for taxes than animals

 

[ZohBug]

There must be a lot of land that is grandfathered in then! I have friends with goats, horses, and llamas (and then the usual like dogs, and rabbits) on 3 acres in Oregon and they're currently looking for a new home and were just told last month that it was 3 acres. The house they're renting now was not used as agri land before they moved in last year. Of course, there are places like Mazomanie where I have friends with 2 goats and chickens on 1/4 acre and it's hard to hide goats! I also have a friend in Middleton whose 2 acre property was grandfathered in (this she knows is a fact) and can have livestock. My other friends have 17+ acres, so I don't know anything personally about people who have properties between 3-15ish acres. I even have friends in Fitchburg who live on a 200 acre farm and that was also grandfathered in because it's been in their family for a very long time and it's always been used for livestock. (Fitchburg isn't far from Madison at all -- only across the street at some places and maybe 10-15mins from downtown Madison, but it's rather residential with relatively small lots and not enough land for the $$.) I looked at a farmhouse on 1 acre in Verona whose grandfather clause exemption had just expired because they had gone more than 1 yr without livestock, but prior to that it had horses.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
we are talking about 2 different things, the 5 acres or more I'm talking about is more of a tax thing I own 5.42 acres that is farmed my taxes last year where $17, someone who is not farming the same acreage size is paying over $2,000. Plus you can put animals on 1/2 an acre or even less if the township allows you to. That applies to the grandfather clause too, most places will not let you go back to farm once the property has no farming or animals, there are always exceptions to the rule, always check at the local Town Hall

 

[alicefelldown]

Thanks everyone for the information.

The BF is flying out next week for another round of interviews - and it looks like the company itself is in Verona, Wisconsin, so South-West down the 18 and 151 routes.

Does anyone have any specific knowledge for this area? Ideas on where we should look at moving that would allow roosters is key. Mt. Horeb and Mazomanie look a bit far to my very un-WI eyes...

 

[partridgeperratree]

Mount Horeb could not be closer to Verona! Literally a 5 - 10 minute drive. Another great area to look is Springdale Township. There are also many properties just south and west of Verona that are quite rural. Try Restainohomes.com, they have a great MLS and you can search by school district (which gives you a mileage zone, more or less) and by property size.

 

[kristip]

I am guessing you are already here... but I live 10 minutes from verona in New glarus and we are zones ag here so yay for chickens.