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Hmmm... I'm a bit confused. Well, preeety confused overall, but a bit more now. We have two hens that are laying and ten chicks that are about 4 weeks old now. We have plans of keeping 6-10 hens for laying, but not roosters (...hey, we're not stupid. Rooster calls would definitely annoy the neighbors). So far we're pretty clandestine. Only a few neighbors know. I have 'sold eggs' to several neighbors and a couple of other friends in order to hopefully slip in under the technicality, even at this beginning point, of the 'small farm' exception/qualification to the Right to Farm Act in Michigan, just in case we end up confronted by our township. [Plainfield Township, outskirts of Grand Rapids. Strange revelation to us is that to read the ordinances of Grand Rapids (a 'large' city) and Plainfield Township (part of the outlying/outskirt area of Grand Rapids), Grand Rapids appears to actually have allowances for small numbers of 'backyard chickens' (hens only), and Plainfield Township appears to not allow it at all unless you have ten or more acres. Weirder and weirder...] We don't want to poke the beehive, but we are hoping for some protection with minimal defense of our rights, from the RTF Act, if asked. Thus the 'egg-selling'. Doesn't that qualify for the 'small farm' definition, and it would not have anything to do with a 'Farmer's Market' situation if it is sold from our home would it?
We used to homeschool, and we began when it was scary... kind-of like this law, the wording in Michigan basically gave us rights on religious basis, and the parameters were murky in regards to what would be considered accountability under a 'certified teacher' (whose definition in this regard was also up for debate)... SO we schooled for several years when it was not the 'in' thing to do, and living in some trepidation of the state showing up at the door. Once again, not wanting to 'poke the beehive'. It was an amazing, miraculous transformation to see the homeschooling community grow and win the favor of both the law and public opinion. Felt rather surreal for quite a while, actually. Hopefully this right, in regards to chickens in backyards, will have a similar type of dynamic.