No Ordinance. Still told to get rid of them! MICH.

[MaryLang]

snuggle! LOL! Yeah, that shirt really covered everything up I have my banties in the yard again, I haven't brought the big girls back yet. It feels so much better just having those little ones again. We just adore them and my 3 year old loves to rock them to sleep. I did a little gardening and it feels so weird not having the others, they would follow behind me grabbing all the worms as I dig. It's just incomprehensible to me why anyone would take issue with backyard chickens anywhere, but look at how many pages of "ordinance forum" we have...disgusting that we all have to go so far!

shaert~ I PM'd you Youre awesome.

 

[MaryLang]

Today is the big day. I'm really curious as to how they are going to explain this whole issue. And I have a new appreciation for all those that have gone through this stuff. Hopefully mine can be resolved at a council meeting, I know that's not always the case. This whole issue just seems to silly to me, I can't believe how closed minded some people are about a practice that has so much history. And to see the joy a chicken can bring, well, I just can't believe it. Hope to have a good update here later.

 

[Stumpy]

I hope you have a good update, too!!!

 

[OldGuy43]

Hi Mary,

I did a little research on your hometown and I think I've figured out the problem. It's a small town of about 1800 with a very low crime rate (¹). The Chief needs more real crime so that she can prove that she is earning her keep and thus "protect her phoney baloney job..." (²)

(¹) Almost half the national average
(²) Mel Brooks - Blazing Saddles

 

[MaryLang]

Yup! It's small and mostly rural. If she wanted to, she could crack down on the drugs and gangs moving in. Or they could take care of the falling down vacant houses in the village. I keep hearing that there are others in town with hens, that have all had them for quite some time, and never had an issue. So I currently don't know what to think of the whole thing. I moved up here to live a quiet life and just raise the kids knowing a bit about the land and nature and where their food comes from. I hope we can get some of that quiet when this is all said and done!

 

[jrsckn]

That's exactly it, small towns have nothing better to do.

When we were moving into our house a year ago, we had six dog houses in the side yard because we hadn't decided where to put them yet. They assumed we had that many dogs even though they were never outside in the houses lol. The police chief left a business card in our door stating we had to get rid of 3 of our dogs because we were only allowed three. We called the department to get the matter resolved and the officer on duty said we had to talk to the chief who was only part time and never on duty when we were available. So they continued to leave nasty notes on our door; we were never there because were hadn't even moved in yet but no one would even let us explain!

Our city ordinance is very vague; it states we can have "animals typically used as pets and kept indoors such as dogs, cats, and canaries" but it prohibits fowl lol. Our neighbor has had chickens for years and all the police did was tell him to close his garage door so people can't see them.

Unfortunately, it's all a matter of interpretation; it can change any day depending on who is interpreting. Good luck!!

 

[MaryLang]

So have you had a problem then with your chickens?

 

[jrsckn]

No I haven't had any issues so far. I'm on the edge of city limits and have an acre of property. My neighbor on one side has chickens, my other neighbor is ok with the chickens as long as they don't get woken up by a rooster (which we never planned on getting because I like my sleep too lol), I have a railroad yard on the back of my property, and the old lady across the street doesn't care either. My chickens are 100 yards from the closest neighbor and can't be seen by anyone so unless someone is snooping around on my property I don't see any issues. And if there are, I'll fight it and I'll have plenty of support.

 

[MaryLang]

UPDATE: Good and Bad news. Good news, we are probably going to get the ordinance changed, which is awesome. So hopefully others will get the chance to do the same and be in good standing.
Bad news is their attorney is interpreting both the ordinance and the law wrong. So they are telling me no hens until this is addressed properly (ie. ordinance change),

 

[jamesbwood]

Lost the battle but (probably) won the war?