New to Forum and am keeping "illegal" chickens

[stacym]

I currently have a nice pen behind my garden shed. Its a really nice spot and the only piece on my property were it's hard to see into. On the side the neighbors can see we covered with garden plants. There is a piece of plywood about 1 and a half foot high around the bottom of the wire, so you really don't know for sure what is in there,Without coming on to my property.(maybe wererabbits!?!) Now when we leave we make sure our gates to the driveway are shut and bunge corded. LOL I walked around the block and looked down in the yard to see if there were any plants that I could use that would give more privacy. I want to let the girls out on my garden spot in the fall for clean up. The privacy fence will done by then,but you can still see in a little bit. I found some bamboo fencing at Home Depot that I an going to use to cover up the part you still can see. My ladies won't be visible.
I'm just going to stay under the radar,mind my own business and if I do have to get rid of them, at least I can see them once in a while on my dad's farm. I would hate to try and introduce them to 50 RIR's though.
Still trying to figure out how to go about approaching the board about modifiying the ordinance without it becoming another nusiance that they have to deal with. Right now, they can't even get people to licence their pets. Probably because the animal shelter that was in charge of picking up stray pets used poison bait instead. Mind you this was a county shelter not associated with the humane society in any form.People were outraged that their animal licensing money went to that. And rightfully so! That is your money hard at work!!

 

[leasmom]

I can legally have chicken in my city but I am renting and I was worried that my landlord would find out because I had them for about two months already. I get inspections in my city because I'm a renter. My chickens are behind my garage where there's lots of trees. They're still visible despite my efforts but oh well. I have a rabbit hutch that looks like that poultry layer but I had the bottom enclosed to be a chicken run and then I added to the side of the chicken run so that its still enclosed but on the side of the coop. I was scared about my landlord finding out. He did when an inspector came and he was here. He looked shocked but the inspector said as long as the area was kept clean and no one complained it was okay with him. I still expected a letter from my landlord but it didn't come fortunately. I do have a makeshift gate covered by tarp that I put up to keep my noisy neighbors on one side from seeing our chickens. These are the ones that called the city on us over 3 inch tall grass and a pile of leaves leftover from a year before, yes they waited a year to call the city on us, by then the leaves were nearly mulch!!!. Because the house next to me was for sale and the one behind me was for sale, I wasn't worried. But, someone bought the house behind me and he doesn't look friendly. I know he knows we have chickens because he cut his grass right by the coop. The other neighbor to him also knows because she asked my daughter about them and said, "I never even knew they were here their so quiet." And then today we were awaken to the sound of them fixing up the house next to me which freaked me out and when I got home, one of the workers asked me where I got my chickens cause he wanted some. The only person I have to worry about seems to be the new one behind me who doesn't look too happy with us, he just kind of stares...that may br because we have chickens or because we're a mixed family, I'm not sure. But, I can relate to being worried about neighbors...even though I can legally have chickens, it takes just one complaining...I'm hoping to move further out next year so I won't have neighbors so close...

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Tell the kids you'll give them a chick to have as a pet in their back yard.

GREAT idea!

 

[AuntieRoo]

Quote:
6 people, two large dogs and a cat? I wonder if the land lord knows that all of these people and animals are living in his tiny 800 SF house?

Most land lords or rental agencies would not allow that many people or large pets in such a small home. I know that some won't allow cats etc. Do you know the landlord? Are there rental regulations about how many people can occupy a rental? That arrangement sounds like it's verging on slum lord.

Considering thier situation and the fact that they are renters, they can't be very bright if they complain about your nice little garden chickens.

Good luck!

 

[digitS']

I can legally have chickens but I thought I'd just chime in here on the issue of concealment.

First off, I don't think people should do something drastic to "hide" their chickens if for no other reason than that drastic measures attract attention. Attracting attention is not the ideal - go for low-profile, instead. Screening is probably always better than barricading.

One reason the henspa works is because of the fencing - of course. It is difficult to see thru such fencing, especially from a distance. But, double fencing creates near invisibility. Imagine that you are walking on a sidewalk past a privacy fence. If there are cracks between the boards, all you need to do is focus your eyes at a distance and you can see right across the yard behind the fence. As you walk along, the glimpses will be like the frames in motion picture film. The boards will provide very little interference to the view.

Now, imagine that there's another privacy fence at some distance from the one you are walking beside. There is absolutely no way that you can see thru the cracks in that fence. Even if you stop and stare and see a shape or movement, identifying what is behind that fence is very unlikely.

Fencing like this buffers sound, as well. The sound goes up where it is either lost to those nearby or the source of the sound becomes difficult to locate.

(Just things I learned after hot tubs showed up on the scene.

)

Steve

 

[stacym]

After much debating I have decided that I am going to see if I can make my chickens legal. I don't feel guilty that I have them, it's just that I want to be able to enjoy them fully without wondering when I will get my "letter"
For now, I will fence and conceal them. I'm thinking about the right way to go making them legal. The Chairman of the Village Board could tell me what to expect. He is pretty open to things, it's just the rest of the board are something else. He may advise me on how to best go about it. Wish me luck!
As for the size of the house I understand that not everyone can afford the size of house they need. I don't have the ideal house for all our kids. I just don't know how they stand it without going crazy. There are days when I think I'll go nuts! Luckily, they (the kids) are happy to sit in the chicken pen for hours at a time.
I've looked at all the different coops on line. I liked all of them,but was thought the one that looked like a trash can wouldn't work for my hens. Now, we have questions about 2 of them possibly being Jersey Giants.So far their names are Black Jenny, Blackie, Penelope, Wrangler and Tuffy.I'm not sure how the kids came up with the names!

 

[chickenfanatic]

ok ok ok enough already about american pitbull terriers i am an authority on this subject i breed American pitbull terriers exclusively and have for 24 yrs.

an american pitbull terrier and an american staffordshire terrier are in fact by ORIGIN one in the same breed. in the early seventies the akc decided the name american pitbull terrier was to politically incoerrect so they changed the name within thier club to american staffordshire terrier that is the only change. the breed standards and original bloodlines are the same. just the name is different.

as for your neighbors im kinda an old hillbilly type rebel boy so i can say the things i think about nosey type people. but in a more politically correct sense id say confront them politely ask if theres anything u can do short of givin in and getting rid of ur birds to make them more comfortable with the situation. i hate to say it but u have to get along with annoying people sometimes for the common good. it is a pain in the neck but maybe that way all can remain pseudo peaceful maybe at least until the decide to no longer rent or occupy that location and move on and then hope no one else crabby moves in there hahaha. thats the best i can say. good luck.