Moving and have to give up my chickens.....BOOHOO

[JennH07]

My DH got a new job in one of the Chicago subs and we will be moving when we sell our househere in IA. Every house that I have looked at and called on for city ordinances all have no chickens allowed.

It is the burbs as far as you can see there.

I just hatched my first egg ( a cochin, one of my favorite chickens) about 7 weeks ago and have 4, 8 week old chicks and 7, one year old hens. I will have to get rid of them all. I am crying as I write this and my kids are crushed too!!! I LOVE MY CHICKS!!!! This just sucks so bad. I have 3 more houses to call on on Tuesday to see if the counties allow chickens, we are trying to find something about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs drive for my DH to commute so we can keep my babies. But as of right now it all looks pretty hopeless. I will try to keep my chin up and hope for the best, as everthing happens for a reason!! Right??!! Right!!

 

[ranchhand]

Internet research! Check everywhere, best of luck! Sure hope you can find a place.

 

[AccentOnHakes]

This calls for....

Operation Invisible House Chickens!

Are you sure it's no chickens? Sometimes they have a loophole that will allow you; have you tried the BYC search tool for the cities?

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Remember,..... You can raise Seramas inside!

Where there's a will, there's a way!

 

[Miyashi]

I don't know if Illinois has anything similar, but in MI there's the right to farm act. Usually allows you to have x amount of hens, no roos.
I don't know what I'd do if I were in your position, operation invisible house chickens sounds like a fantastic idea if all else fails!
I would mos def do some research though....sometimes people are just crappy and they will tell you "no" when really it's okay, just not with them and they ignore legalities. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! (And your birds rights of course!)
Best of luck to you!
I'm hoping my hardest for you guys!
<3<3<3<3

 

[ThinkingChickens]

Call the county code enforcement office and ask them which areas allow chickens. This is a good start. Next, find board members here from Chicago and the surrounding areas. They may be able to find you chicken friendly housing and/or give you ideas on areas. You can find a place!

 

[chi-rn]

Maybe this post will be helpful? https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=3763549

 

[Vora]

Chickens are definitely legal in Chicago. The zoning will not allow for chickens raised for slaughter, but outdoor hens are perfectly fine. I don't know who is telling you otherwise, but look up the laws yourself. The Internets are a wonderful tool!

 

[Miyashi]

Quote:
I thought you could have laying hens just about anywhere....no extreme number of them, guess it depends on how big your city lot is....but yeah.
I thought it was a bunch of crap that people were telling her no. I hope you are right! I had thought that 'right to farm' act had been adopted almost everywhere in one form or another.

 

[Elphaba2140]

Chickens are legal in Chicago. You cannot slaughter them in city limits. I live in a large Chicago suburb and like many around here we CAN have chickens. Just check with the city code of the places you are looking at houses in. This is a very progressive area. I hope you get to keep your birds.