The thought has never even crossed my mind. Well that's not entirely true. While doing some yard work at a friend's house I did think to myself that there was a place there perfect for a chicken pen.
Anyway this friend and his roommate were in Tractor Supply the other day and saw all the cute chicks. Of course they started sending me pictures and videos of the fuzzy butts. Jokingly I said they should stop teasing me unless they were going to let me keep some at their house. (I would have a little house hen, but I am in a small apartment, my roommate has a cat, and I have enough animals to worry about inside with the chinchilla, two fish tanks, and a very jealous Jenday Conure.)
Well to my surprise they said that I could.
Of course all these ideas started running through my head
before I even thought about City Ordinances on keeping them so I spent several hours scouring the web for rules and regulations.
According to the following information I should be able to have 6 chickens so long as I keep their coop clean and fifty feet away from a property line. Is that what everyone else understands as well?
Anyway this friend and his roommate were in Tractor Supply the other day and saw all the cute chicks. Of course they started sending me pictures and videos of the fuzzy butts. Jokingly I said they should stop teasing me unless they were going to let me keep some at their house. (I would have a little house hen, but I am in a small apartment, my roommate has a cat, and I have enough animals to worry about inside with the chinchilla, two fish tanks, and a very jealous Jenday Conure.)
Well to my surprise they said that I could.
According to the following information I should be able to have 6 chickens so long as I keep their coop clean and fifty feet away from a property line. Is that what everyone else understands as well?
Fowl means any heavy bodied, terrestrial bird of the order Galliformes, including but not limited to chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants, turkeys, grouse, guineas, or other common domestic fowl, but not including caged pet birds kept inside a building and otherwise not a bird defined as fowl herein.
Livestock means any horse, swine, cattle, sheep, goat, mule, jack, jenny, emu, ostrich or rhea.
*Sec. 14-13. Keeping of livestock, fowl, and swine prohibited, exceptions.
b. Fowl. It is unlawful to own, keep, or harbor any fowl within the City limits except as follows:
1. Numerical limitation: In an area zoned AG, no more than six (6) fowl may be kept per acre. In all other zoning districts, no more than six (6) fowl may be kept per household regardless of lot size;
2. Restraint: All fowl kept under this section shall be confined in a pen, coop, or other structure sufficient to prevent their escape;
3. Location of pens and structures: Every such pen, coop or other structure required for the confinement of fowl under this section shall be located at least fifty (50) feet distant from any property line.
d. Sanitation requirements. Every such stable, shed, pen or other structure used for the storage or shelter of livestock or fowl under this section shall be cleaned and maintained so as to prevent the escape of noxious odors or substances to adjacent properties or the creation of any health hazard or nuisance to adjacent property owners, as required by Section 14-10.
e. The prohibitions and restrictions set out in this section shall not apply to:
4. An animal exhibition operating under a contract, lease, or special event permit, or otherwise duly approved by the City;
That is all copied and pasted directly from this website:
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:tyler_tx
According to the zone this friend is in 6 is the limit I think. The zone map can be found here:
http://www.smithcountymapsite.org/webshare/maps.htm
Zoning (Northeast Section)
I had a really hard time finding Tanglewood Dr. on that map but I finally did. It is in a tan section.
According to this I should be able to keep a few doves or pigeons in addition to the chickens if I so desire and they will not fall under this ordinance, correct?
Basically I just want to check and make sure I am understanding everything correctly, that there are no loopholes, and that I'm not doing something illegal.
So here's to hoping I've got everything right
and that pretty soon I'll be picking out what I want to keep. Part of me wants to do my part to preserve a rare heritage breed like the Javas, or work on a new color like Blue Javas (crossing one of Maria Hall's Blue Giants ought to do a nice job of introducing the color without having to fight with unwanted traits), or maybe a mixed flock of hens with no roo, or a flock of large fowl or bantam Salmon Faverolles, or a quad of them and a Sumatra bantam or Black Australorp bantam, or a silkie...lol
Livestock means any horse, swine, cattle, sheep, goat, mule, jack, jenny, emu, ostrich or rhea.
*Sec. 14-13. Keeping of livestock, fowl, and swine prohibited, exceptions.
b. Fowl. It is unlawful to own, keep, or harbor any fowl within the City limits except as follows:
1. Numerical limitation: In an area zoned AG, no more than six (6) fowl may be kept per acre. In all other zoning districts, no more than six (6) fowl may be kept per household regardless of lot size;
2. Restraint: All fowl kept under this section shall be confined in a pen, coop, or other structure sufficient to prevent their escape;
3. Location of pens and structures: Every such pen, coop or other structure required for the confinement of fowl under this section shall be located at least fifty (50) feet distant from any property line.
d. Sanitation requirements. Every such stable, shed, pen or other structure used for the storage or shelter of livestock or fowl under this section shall be cleaned and maintained so as to prevent the escape of noxious odors or substances to adjacent properties or the creation of any health hazard or nuisance to adjacent property owners, as required by Section 14-10.
e. The prohibitions and restrictions set out in this section shall not apply to:
4. An animal exhibition operating under a contract, lease, or special event permit, or otherwise duly approved by the City;
That is all copied and pasted directly from this website:
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates&fn=default.htm&vid=amlegal:tyler_tx
According to the zone this friend is in 6 is the limit I think. The zone map can be found here:
http://www.smithcountymapsite.org/webshare/maps.htm
Zoning (Northeast Section)
I had a really hard time finding Tanglewood Dr. on that map but I finally did. It is in a tan section.
According to this I should be able to keep a few doves or pigeons in addition to the chickens if I so desire and they will not fall under this ordinance, correct?
Basically I just want to check and make sure I am understanding everything correctly, that there are no loopholes, and that I'm not doing something illegal.
So here's to hoping I've got everything right
