MARYLAND THREAD!

[mary sens]

Chickens in Glen Burnie How Cool is that
I want some
I lived in Salsibury
moving back to my childhood home
How do I get info frim AAC

 

[SaltyPaws]

Chickens in Glen Burnie How Cool is that
I want some
I lived in Salsibury
moving back to my childhood home
How do I get info frim AAC

I've heard something like you can have 30 birds per acre on properties over 2 acres. Under 2, it's not illegal, but you can't have 30....

 

[SaltyPaws]

Chickens in Glen Burnie How Cool is that
I want some
I lived in Salsibury
moving back to my childhood home
How do I get info frim AAC

I've heard something like you can have 30 birds per acre on properties over 2 acres. Under 2, it's not illegal, but you can't have 30....

 

[webpony]

Harford county - I have about twenty with one rooster bought online in sept. I built a coop from recycled pallets. I have had chicks before but about half this number. I have 2+ acres, rural residential zoned. No HOA. No sure if Harco has number or rooster rules can't find on county web.... Anyone know.

 

[SunnySkies]

Maryland chicken laws:

Anne Arundel County, MD. No livestock or domestic fowl on lots smaller than 40,000 sq ft.  Combinations of fowl must not exceed the ratio of 1 bird unit (= 32 chickens) per 40,000 sq ft. All fowl must be kept within a fenced area. Accessory structures for fowl and manure storage must be at least 50 ft. from side and rear lot lines.
Baltimore County, MD.  Must have 1 acre of land to have poultry.
Baltimore City, MD.  Up to four chickens can be kept (no roosters) as long as they are confined  to a moveable pen that is kept 25 feet away from all residences.
Baltimore City, MD.  You can have up to for hens, no roosters, must have a permit.
Prince George's County, MD.   Does not permit chickens to be kept in these residential zones: R-E, R-1, R-2, R-3.  As of Feb. 2012, there are plans to revise the zoning ordinance to permit a limited number of chickens in residential subdivisions.
Rockville, MD.  Chickens are not allowed; neither are ducks, goats, or anything
primarily kept on a farm.

I am sure this is not all inclusive, though, and it does not include HOAs that exclude chickens, like the one where we used to live in southern AA county. There may be other cities and towns that exclude chickens.

http://thecitychicken.com/chickenlaws.html Is the source.

ETA: they are not allowed in residential areas of Frederick the city or Brunswick, even though we have them out in the county of Frederick.
I cannot find any restrictions at all for Harford county. Maybe check with your city/town and county.

ETA2: it looks like there are no restrictions in St. Mary's county, but Charles seems to restrict to 1 bird per half acre. http://www.charlescounty.org/webdocs/pgm/publications/planning/zoning_ord 2008.pdf. Now I'm glad we didn't move there! We almost bought a place there...glad the seller was crazy and we escaped that contract. I'd be in huge trouble!

Calvert has lot size restrictions, but some dear friends of mine were successful in obtaining a special exception http://www.thebaynet.com/News/index...29393/comment_categoryID/29393-News/comment/Y. They live in a typical residential neighborhood in Huntingtown.

 

[SunnySkies]

Dnt forget, anybody with 5 chickens must register their flock with the state. Download the form from the MD dept of AG website. It is free. You get a number and a card.

It's just a way that if there is a disease outbreak that they can tell you; I think you also need this if you are selling eggs or chicks (but it is a step short of NPIP, which you need to ship eggs or birds out of state).

I'm not gonna lie....if a disease is bad enough, they could use the information to come in and kill all birds in an area to prevent disease spread (I myself have done this when I was working for USDA/APHIS/Vet Services and we had an outbreak of exotic Newcastle's in CA some years ago) but it is also possible they could just quarantine backyard flocks. We did that in several disease outbreaks and focused on eliminating infected flocks only and helping everyone else with biosecurity. Considering poultry is the state's top agricultural commodity, it goes a long way to protecting everyone.

 

[SaltyPaws]

Does anyone have any info on Calvert's restrictions? I've been looking but haven't found anything yet....

 

[SunnySkies]

Lot size, but that is all I can find. I will see if I can run down more specific information later.

 

[SunnySkies]

Sme stuff about Howard co
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/31126/zoning-appeals-and-chickens-in-md

Everything I can find about Calvert makes me think the property must be over an acre. Your best bet is to call the Zoning department.

This is the variance my friends got: http://md-calvertcounty.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/125?fileID=159

ETA: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Southern-Maryland-Backyard-Chickens/148846671841155

 

[Shewholovesducks]

YAY I called our local zoning office and apparently keeping chickens, etc is perfectly legal here R-80 YESSSSS! I'm not gonna even try to keep a rooster but at least I know we can keep them without getting in trouble,I was wondering too because we saw so many houses nearby with chicken houses. And wait how does charles county have such a weird law? People have been keeping chickens there for years and theres even a poultry farm there weird.

Just in case we're probably gonna grow some bamboo along our privacy fence so the neighbors can't look over and try to find a reason to complain.