Only one hen :-(

[chicklet1]

Well after researching keeping chickens for quite some time (I'd checked the ordinances for my area several times), apparently recently they have re-written some local codes. I have a horse boarding facility a block from me, cows in pasture across from me, and after speaking with someone at City Hall I was transferred around to about 3 different people and was finally given a section # to look at, and I am only allowed one chicken. :-( That stinks.

What is odd to me, is that there are large chunks of property all around me that is zoned agricultural, but apparently mine is not. :-(

Poo. :-( The lady on the phone said it was odd to her, too, that peppered all around me the zoning is different, but bc I am in a neighborhood (even in an unincorporated area of the city), I am only allowed one bird. Since we were looking into getting birds for eggs, I am thinking I shouldn't even bother now. :-( I feel stupid. I just assumed it would be the same for an entire area, not determined lot by lot as the lady said. :-( I'm sad now. :-(

 

[LarryPQ]

I am sorry.

Double-check your parcel zoning- SPECIFICALLY to make sure you are limited to one.

ONE chicken is a sad and lonely chicken, since they are social birds.


ETA: there is a difference between R-1, R-2, R-3 etc.

 

[chicklet1]

I spoke to someone in zoning who asked for my address so she could look up my specific lot. She also gave me the section and I looked it up online. SHE said I was allowed one bird, which didn't make much sense to me either as they are social and she would likely be lonely. :-( I did NOT, however, see in the statute where it said I could have one bird. It said poultry and foul were "prohibited" unless it was zoned for agricultural use. I had no idea it went property-by-property like that. I apparently was wrong in assuming the whole area was zoned for ag use when I started researching keeping chickens, since there are farms and such within walking distance and in fact w/in view of my house.

Of course, I am a good example of how you should always check and double-check I guess. I still feel pretty stupid. And the family was getting so excited.

 

[ButtermilkMama]

That advice sounds 'fowl' to me. If your property is unincorporated, city laws do not apply to you, as I understand it. Your property would be subject to county law.

 

[LarryPQ]

But county municipal code would then be trumped by county zoning ordinances.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Ask if they have zoning maps--it is highly unlikely that each property is individually zoned. Each zone almost certainly has specific boundaries. Just because it is nearby does not mean it calls within the same zone. Sometimes properties that abut a different zone are allowed some leeway in uses that are allowed in that zone.


However, there are also city ordinances that will apply; that is likely where the permission to have one chicken is listed.

 

[dntd]

I would go stealth, research quiet hens and make a coop not to look like one, a garden shed would work and a garden infront of the run. of course a privacy fence would work.

 

[chicklet1]

I do have a privacy fence--6 ft wood--and on one side no neighbors. The neighbors behind me have a 2-story home, however. I would have to pretty it up and make it not look like a chicken coop. Is there any difference in how vocal one breed is over another as far as hens go? I was thinking a pair of Silkies but since my main goal is eggs, I am wondering if I should go with a breed that is known to be a better layer. But darn those Silkies are so pretty!

 

[chicklet1]

Oooh! I found the "quietest chicken" thread!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I do not believe that loudness is particular to a breed, but rather to individual birds.