***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[faerielady]

Quote:
Hey there neighbor! I actually live in Del City, and the ordinances in place here are 1. no roosters (violates a noise ordinance) and 2. must be at least 20 feet away from all fences, 100 feet away from any neighbor's door. Luckily for me, the houses where I live are small and the yards are large, so putting a coop in the square middle of my back yard is more than 100 feet away from either neighbor (and my north side neighbors will sit outside on their trailer while watching the chickens... they're Mexican immigrants and told me that their mother raised chickens, so it's a reminder to them). Oh, and requirement #3 is they MUST have a coop & enclosure, so no "full yard free range".

Was it a neighbor who complained, or code enforcement officer wandering around? I haven't checked the news in OKC about the backyard chicken bill(s) that have been suggested in the past few years, bad me

I can't have livestock (and I so want a La Mancha, but in Del City that's a no go for any property less than a half acre) but I can have hens (poultry that doesn't crow).

James' house in MWC has privacy fencing, but he can actually own livestock AND poultry and MWC won't do anything to him.

 

[Amy Farah Fowler]

Quote:
They sold some full grown bird's at the sale sat night ...They only brot around 15 each an was as good as they come..They would have brot a lot more but they didnt wont to split thim up ten hen's an a roo ...

OMG... wish I'd have been there! That sounds like a much better deal than $115 for 12 eggs. I don't suppose you bought them, did you? Were they bantams or LF? I'm leaning toward LF, but I'd take bantams if I found them. Sooner or later I'm bound to run across some.

 

[Amy Farah Fowler]

Quote:
Hey there neighbor! I actually live in Del City, and the ordinances in place here are 1. no roosters (violates a noise ordinance) and 2. must be at least 20 feet away from all fences, 100 feet away from any neighbor's door. Luckily for me, the houses where I live are small and the yards are large, so putting a coop in the square middle of my back yard is more than 100 feet away from either neighbor (and my north side neighbors will sit outside on their trailer while watching the chickens... they're Mexican immigrants and told me that their mother raised chickens, so it's a reminder to them). Oh, and requirement #3 is they MUST have a coop & enclosure, so no "full yard free range".

Was it a neighbor who complained, or code enforcement officer wandering around? I haven't checked the news in OKC about the backyard chicken bill(s) that have been suggested in the past few years, bad me

I can't have livestock (and I so want a La Mancha, but in Del City that's a no go for any property less than a half acre) but I can have hens (poultry that doesn't crow).

James' house in MWC has privacy fencing, but he can actually own livestock AND poultry and MWC won't do anything to him.

Isn't it strange how different the laws are from town to town? I admit I haven't checked our city ordinances, but was told we can have up to 5 chickens. If I was smart I would check that out to make sure and not wait for the code enforcement officer to knock.
We have a dog run for our chicken pen too, and we use those cheap tarps that we bungie cord tight for a cover. We had a really bad wind storm this summer and it tore the tarp and didn't carry away the dog run, I was happy about that. Was alot easier to buy another cheap tarp than to try to find my hens.

 

[janbcoo1]

Quote:
Hey there neighbor! I actually live in Del City, and the ordinances in place here are 1. no roosters (violates a noise ordinance) and 2. must be at least 20 feet away from all fences, 100 feet away from any neighbor's door. Luckily for me, the houses where I live are small and the yards are large, so putting a coop in the square middle of my back yard is more than 100 feet away from either neighbor (and my north side neighbors will sit outside on their trailer while watching the chickens... they're Mexican immigrants and told me that their mother raised chickens, so it's a reminder to them). Oh, and requirement #3 is they MUST have a coop & enclosure, so no "full yard free range".

Was it a neighbor who complained, or code enforcement officer wandering around? I haven't checked the news in OKC about the backyard chicken bill(s) that have been suggested in the past few years, bad me

I can't have livestock (and I so want a La Mancha, but in Del City that's a no go for any property less than a half acre) but I can have hens (poultry that doesn't crow).

James' house in MWC has privacy fencing, but he can actually own livestock AND poultry and MWC won't do anything to him.

When we got our first three day old chicks the OKC city council was supposed to be making a ruling on BYCs but as usual, I guess they ducked the issue and haven't altered the ordinances. As for who turned us in...it was a "neighbor" and of course it was anonymous. However, the code enforcement officer was very kind and though we have shed tears at having to give up our very spoiled and special girls, they are all going to really good homes and we are going to pull through this. They were a calming and cathartic refuge for my husband who had a stroke 2 yrs ago and he can't talk, but the chickens communicated with him. He has been pretty crushed by the whole episode.

We'd be happy to help you roof your pen, ours is also 10'x10'x6' and the whole roof cost less than $100.00 - including paint. Our HOA doesn't allow us to have permanent outbuildings of any kind, so we designed the roof to be easily removable if need be.

 

[janbcoo1]

Amy Farah Fowler

Isn't it strange how different the laws are from town to town? I admit I haven't checked our city ordinances, but was told we can have up to 5 chickens. If I was smart I would check that out to make sure and not wait for the code enforcement officer to knock.
We have a dog run for our chicken pen too, and we use those cheap tarps that we bungie cord tight for a cover. We had a really bad wind storm this summer and it tore the tarp and didn't carry away the dog run, I was happy about that. Was alot easier to buy another cheap tarp than to try to find my hens.

We used a tarp too until those winds in the late spring carried our little holding pen over the garden to the back fence!

We finally decided to put the removable roof on the pen to give added weight to the run and the give the girls a little more vertical space. I didn't know it at the time, but some of those bantam game birds are really good fliers! I really think the code enforcement officers aren't "out to get" anyone, but it probably is a good idea to check the ordinances - we thought we were OK because they were supposed to be addressing it, but...guess we were soooo wrong!

 

[faerielady]

Quote:
See, here in Del City the council wanted to make having chickens a no-go (in other words, take them away). However, they never actually changed the codes because it would require them to take some wording out of the ordinances that they do NOT want to remove. You see, in Del City the ordinances make it illegal to own pit bulls. However, a court challenge to that ordinance somewhere else (can't remember where) did not hold up, and they are not supposed to be able to discriminate by breed of dog. If they alter the ordinance to remove poultry rights, they have to edit the part about not owning pit bulls. They aren't willing to do that because the average citizen doesn't know that breed discrimination will not hold up in court, so they don't challenge the tickets AND re-home dogs when they get turned in (except for my neighbor down the street, who successfully overturned 3 citations for owning a pit and the city leaves her alone since she took them to court. I'd trust her dog over a pom any day of the week. He might LICK you to death though). The fact that the majority fold to the city's pressure tactics means they really don't want to remove that code from the books, even though they *should*.

I'm sure James would love some pointers and such on how to roof the pen! I plan to hook up cinderblocks to the corners with chains and locks (so I can unlock and remove them if needed) to keep it from tipping in the wind.

I learned this stuff a long time ago after a conversation with Maribeth made me go look stuff up.

 

[janbcoo1]

S & C Jarvis That is a beautiful little child! When my two were born, I prayed to know in my heart that they were not "mine" but God's and that He was watching over and caring for them at all times - just as He had cared for me in my life. It is a good prayer that has brought our son through two tours in Afghanistan and the recent bombing of his humvee in Iraq. Surely His arms are gently enfolding that sweet little girl and loving her thoroughly to give her strength to complete her transition into this world. Our prayers are with you and your family at tihs time.

 

[Amy Farah Fowler]

Quote:
I am a born and raised in the country gal, and when I found myself living in town 10 years ago, it was an adjustment to say the least. We have land in the country, so if it came down to it, our chickens could be country chickens. I just want them to be city chickens because it gives me some sense of country life when I'm in town. My fence backs up to farm zoned land, and there's even a lot with an awesome chicken house on it that's just going to waste. I've tried to buy it, but so far it hasn't happened. If I ever aquire that lot, there will be no stopping my chicken hobby.

I would think the time would be right to lobby for a change in ordinances. There's the healthy food aspect and the economy sucks, so there's the feeding my family aspect... not to mention the theraputic aspect. I should be a lobbiest.

 

[janbcoo1]

Quote:
See, here in Del City the council wanted to make having chickens a no-go (in other words, take them away). However, they never actually changed the codes because it would require them to take some wording out of the ordinances that they do NOT want to remove. You see, in Del City the ordinances make it illegal to own pit bulls. However, a court challenge to that ordinance somewhere else (can't remember where) did not hold up, and they are not supposed to be able to discriminate by breed of dog. If they alter the ordinance to remove poultry rights, they have to edit the part about not owning pit bulls. They aren't willing to do that because the average citizen doesn't know that breed discrimination will not hold up in court, so they don't challenge the tickets AND re-home dogs when they get turned in (except for my neighbor down the street, who successfully overturned 3 citations for owning a pit and the city leaves her alone since she took them to court. I'd trust her dog over a pom any day of the week. He might LICK you to death though). The fact that the majority fold to the city's pressure tactics means they really don't want to remove that code from the books, even though they *should*.

I'm sure James would love some pointers and such on how to roof the pen! I plan to hook up cinderblocks to the corners with chains and locks (so I can unlock and remove them if needed) to keep it from tipping in the wind.

I learned this stuff a long time ago after a conversation with Maribeth made me go look stuff up.

Excellent - we'll try to take some photos of what we've done.

 

[janbcoo1]

Quote:
I am a born and raised in the country gal, and when I found myself living in town 10 years ago, it was an adjustment to say the least. We have land in the country, so if it came down to it, our chickens could be country chickens. I just want them to be city chickens because it gives me some sense of country life when I'm in town. My fence backs up to farm zoned land, and there's even a lot with an awesome chicken house on it that's just going to waste. I've tried to buy it, but so far it hasn't happened. If I ever aquire that lot, there will be no stopping my chicken hobby.

I would think the time would be right to lobby for a change in ordinances. There's the healthy food aspect and the economy sucks, so there's the feeding my family aspect... not to mention the theraputic aspect. I should be a lobbiest.

I'd vote for you!