Michigan Peeps -- we need to band together.

[chadg]

I am in Linden as well, and plan to raise a few hens for eggs. I have heard a rooster in the mornings lately (I get up for work at 5) and I like it. Makes me feel like I'm not the only one up, and it has never WOKE me up. I wonder if its yours?

 

[laughingclown]

Yeah hes a noisy bugger in the early Morning. I don't think he starts going to early. He is usually in the coop till about 8 when I let him out. He starts to taper off at about 10-11 am. By afternoon you don't here him to much. Ive got great neighbors. I asked them before I bought them and again before I got the rooster. Next month I have Honey Bees coming

 

[chadg]

I suppose it must be another....it sounds like its west of me anyway, and your house is east. I haven't heard it since posting this though.

 

[hfogerty]

I see that this is an old thread but I'm hoping you guys are still around. I'm new in downtown Linden. I'm thinking of stirring up some trouble at city hall and attempting to get these ordinances changed. Currently a coop has to be 200ft from any residence. That's crazy. It's only 25ft in Fenton. Anyone want to meet for coffee and join me in making a plan? I assume the city will be worried about a "thing like in Fenton" happening again so if I play my cards right they'll want to satisfy me and make me go away.

 

[wingless]

Hey, just want to say that in Michigan you have two options for having chickens legally. One is to change your local ordinance, and the other is to earn Right to Farm protection at the state level; Randy Buchler won a Right to Farm case in 2012 in a residentially zoned area of Forsyth Township, for example, despite ordinances that prohibit the keeping of livestock.

There is a Michigan Right to Farm thread here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...farm-law-what-does-it-mean/1570#post_13232415

And many of us who met on that thread started the Michigan Small Farm Council so we could work together on these issues: http://www.michigansmallfarmcouncil.org

Glad to have you join us.

 

[crookedbarnhomestead]

Seriously, we as a community of backyard enthusiasts need to band together to ensure that our rights under the MRTFA act become known and more importantly are observed.

I am sick of reading the horror stories about people all over Michigan being told they have to give up their birds. Especially about those who FALL UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE LAW, and yet local officials either strong arm or intimidate them these folks into capitulation.

I think we need an organized movement to ensure that

1) all of the small, backyard folks know the law, its current status, and what needs to be done to qualify as a protected farm operation under the law;

2) work to ensure that no changes are made to the law which would take away the protections currently granted to us by the legislature and the courts;

3) serve as a clearinghouse of information and support for those who are being unfairly targeted by local officials who do not understand the law or choose to ignore it;

4) create a trade/sales network between like minded folks to help us all "sell" our products and thereby help to confirm our status as "commercial";

I'm trying to piece together a plan of my own SHOULD the knock come on the door from the code enforcement people or police one day. Forewarned is forearmed. However, even at that, I know that I am "nervous" about my birds, I am concerned that my current rights as granted by the legislature and courts will not be observed without a lengthy, draining, and expensive fight. Or that I would be targeted for harassment by local officials with "an ax to grind" should I speak up for my rights.

If anyone else is interested in working with me on such a program, please let me know, either here or with a PM.

One of the first things I would like to work on is some kind of a "MRTFA For Dummies" kind of document that could serve as a "how to kit" for all of us backyard peeps -- how to keep a backyard flock and satisfy the MRTFA requirements so that your operation is legally protected.

Please, even if you're not interested in any way in contributing to such a project, please give me your input about my ideas, or just share your stories, good or bad, about any run-ins with local govt you may have had.

I am just sick at the way this country is going, and I am sick of the fact that something so fundamental as keeping birds for food and fun is deemed "wrong" in this society, when in reality, its a vital life skill that I think is going to become more and more important in the future as our world runs out of resources.

I am about to have this fight with my township. Are you still active in this?