Need your input to help draft new city ordinance for Backyard Chickens!

[TheAlrightyGina]

I think that the math logic is great as well! I agree with @TheAlrightyGina about their points as well. (am I correct that your pronouns are they/them?) But I would check your spelling before sending it in
View attachment 2489338

I'm not bothered by any pronoun aimed at me, but they/them is fine.

 

[SkiboJeff]

That's a pretty solid response. However, I'm confused about the idea of including chicks in the total # of chickens. Most people raise chicks in a brooder, which is usually entirely separate from the coop/run structure, if not inside their house. Perhaps language should be suggested that has a separate mimimum for chicks up to 16 weeks (processing age for heritage breeds) as long as their brooder is housed separately. Typically these aren't structures in and of themselves, but something akin to specialized furniture. If necessary, the coop/run limitations could be gotten around by including something about chicken tractors for birds that will be held on the property for less than 6 months (this also would give people a way to have a hospital coop without breaking any rules).

I think this is especially important for those who want to raise them for meat, as you would need more birds for meat, temporarily, than for egg laying.

Any concerns about early crowers could be addressed with animal nuisance laws already in place, more than likely.

I was trying to include chick language in order to get the definition of "chicks" to include pullets and cockerels up to age 20 weeks. Then you could have 8 adult hens plus 4 other "chicks" in your coop and run. Most non-chicken city folks are against roosters, so I'd rather get more hens than fight the rooster battle.

 

[jakedaniel]

I've seen it as bad as 200' setback from any occupied building. You can imagine how problematic that is, because it essentially bans chickens on smaller or even odd shaped lots. Like I'm on 4 acres but it's narrow... I couldn't set back any building 200' and even 100' would be difficult.

Both my county (I'm only bound by county ordinance) and the nearest city do have a "more land, more chickens" type allowance, which seems sensible to me.

Yep. My city council, (Baytown, Texas), recently voted to double the setback requirement from 100’ to 200’, basically outlawing backyard chickens within City limits. No notice given, no discussion, and with COVID you can’t attend meetings in person anyway. I found out a couple of months after the change and immediately called the City to get their Health Dept and City Attorney to send me something documenting the fact that I’m grandfathered under the old ordinance, which I’m happy to report that they did, but sucks for everyone else. I’m guessing a councilperson had a neighbor buy some chickens during the panics/shortages last year, the councilperson went to report them, and were told that what their neighbor was doing was perfectly legal. Well, they sure took care of that.

 

[Jenjens]

What about allowing free range as long as you have an enclosed yard? I hate seeing chickens stuck in coops and these horrible small runs that people don't realize is too small for their chickens.

 

[black_cat]

What about allowing free range as long as you have an enclosed yard? I hate seeing chickens stuck in coops and these horrible small runs that people don't realize is too small for their chickens.

You'd have to have a fully fenced, fully netted yard for it to work, because chickens can fly.

 

[Lori J]

The city council had a study group yesterday and it seems like most of the council is in favor of passing an ordinance. Here are the highlights: 4 hens, no roosters, 200 sq ft coop and run maximum without having a bldg permit or code compliance, 10ft bldg height, 10 ft setback from property line, 50 ft distance from neighbor dwelling, no free range, rodent proof food storage containers, maintain clean coop and run. Actually looking pretty good. Now goes to Planning Commission and then back to city council for a vote in March.

Sounds good, but how is the free range restriction defined? If you have a fenced in backyard can your chickens run during the day around like any dog, etc.? Much healthier lifestyle for them. But if it just means you can’t let them run around the neighborhood, I understand that.

 

[Lori J]

You'd have to have a fully fenced, fully netted yard for it to work, because chickens can fly.

Are you in the UK? If so, I understand the netting and the restrictions. But in the US, I think the restrictions are too much.

 

[Lori J]

You'd have to have a fully fenced, fully netted yard for it to work, because chickens can fly.

In five years, my chickens have never flown over my fence.

 

[Lori J]

That's a pretty solid response. However, I'm confused about the idea of including chicks in the total # of chickens. Most people raise chicks in a brooder, which is usually entirely separate from the coop/run structure, if not inside their house. Perhaps language should be suggested that has a separate mimimum for chicks up to 16 weeks (processing age for heritage breeds) as long as their brooder is housed separately. Typically these aren't structures in and of themselves, but something akin to specialized furniture. If necessary, the coop/run limitations could be gotten around by including something about chicken tractors for birds that will be held on the property for less than 6 months (this also would give people a way to have a hospital coop without breaking any rules).

I think this is especially important for those who want to raise them for meat, as you would need more birds for meat, temporarily, than for egg laying.

Any concerns about early crowers could be addressed with animal nuisance laws already in place, more than likely.

I agree with this. Also, I think that the simpler the better in the ordinance description. Otherwise it sounds like government nitpicking

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

I was trying to include chick language in order to get the definition of "chicks" to include pullets and cockerels up to age 20 weeks. Then you could have 8 adult hens plus 4 other "chicks" in your coop and run. Most non-chicken city folks are against roosters, so I'd rather get more hens than fight the rooster battle.

Oh I see. I wasn't trying to fight the rooster battle with my comment, I was just trying to give you something to say if someone said that cockerels can crow before 16-20weeks (which they can). I would think general nuisance laws could come into effect at that point, if the cockerels were getting obnoxious.

However, if you're raising birds for meat and eggs, having 8 hens and 4 chicks simply wouldn't work out unless you were eating some of the hens. 4-5 hens is usually enough to keep a family in all the eggs they'd need depending on the breed (dual purpose might be more like 6-8), but for meat birds if you eat as much as the average American family, you need to process 20+ birds a year. At the level you suggested, you could at most produce 12 at 16wks process or 8 at 20 wks process per year. At minimum, the limit would need to be 7 for 16wks process or 10 for 20 wks process. So perhaps the limit should be 8 laying hens, and 8 "chicks" (defined as birds 20wks of age or younger) housed in a separate, movable structure for simplicity?