Pennsylvanians!,is it worth keeping chickens in Upper Bucks County,PA?

[shortstaque]

Well the way I read it is you can't have a BUILDING within that far from the property line. The way I see it, if you made yourself a chicken tractor, that is not a BUILDING because it does not have a foundation and is not permanent. I say make yourself an arc/chicken tractor and you have not broken the law and you can have up to 14 chickens.

Don't forget it is DONT ASK, DONT TELL as far as chickens are concerned too. My best guess is, if you are friendly with your neighbors and you don't have any roosters the powers that be will never know. And as I said you are allowed to have up to 14 chickens anyway as long as you don't have a BUIDLING within 100 feet of the property line.

It is your right to have chickens!!! Be a good neighbor (no roos, keep it clean, and make your tractor attractive) and I bet it will be a really great experience for you and your neighbors, who really can be made believers with fresh eggs.

In case I didn't say it enough ways, GO FOR IT!!!!

 

[shortstaque]

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BTW here in Dublin, I have not had any trouble

with anything-the law or neighbors. We got rid of our noisiest rooster to promote good relations. Our neighbors love our chickens and are very excited at the prospect of fresh eggs. We move the chicken's tractor daily and as a result you can not smell them. Plus their bedding is making a beautiful and enriching addition to the compost pile. I'm about to use the chicken tractor to make some new garden beds for next year by leaving it in one place for a few weeks. Can you say free rototilling and fertilizer!!!

 

[circa1929]

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EXACTLY!

It is completely ludicris especially being that this entire area has sooo much agricultural history with farms, etc around here, .... IT SUCKS!!!!

 

[circa1929]

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I'd go for it but you don't know the borough council people and zoning officer around here like we here do. A neighbor wanting to put a small shed to house his mower and garden tools was told he had to pour a concrete slab with an eyebolt or something similar in it, then chain the small shed to the eyebolt securing it in case the area got flooded! The fellow lives about 20 yards away from a small creek that hasn't even come close to the tops of its banks since 1970! If there would be a flood, a small shed would be the last thing they'd be worried about!

Hence me not wanting to risk being targeted or call attention to myself.

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I reside on a corner lot,... So, I may as well charge tickets for a show the way some people act when they drive by and I'm working in the yard, the garage, etc. You ought to see how horribly nosy passers by get, it's horrible. My immediate neighbors are great, but we have several nuts living down the way that would be happy to make trouble.

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Yes, it was our intention to simply have egg laying hens,.. 2-3, maybe 4 at most,...that WAS the idea.
We've always been good neighbors, kind, helpful, etc....simply no other way to be with people who are your neighbors!

I told my one neighbor about the idea in passing, my wife quickly said, "...eggs for everyone too!...free!!" which broke the ice of the idea, but they looked a little put off by the idea regardless. I think they'd be fine though.

I'm sitting here thinking of the chicken "tractor", I'd like to try it,...but I'm telling you,... they way they are SO nit-picky here, I'd just be giving them a reason to justify their jobs!

 

[circa1929]

Also, we have only .26 acres,... it leaves you with a very small yard,... hardly room for a chicken tractor,... (the more I contemplate this...)

I can just hear our zoning officer now,...

"It says, "they shall be stabled or housed in buildings at least 100 feet from the lot lines",...."you just can't do it, I'LL HAVE TO FINE YOU UNLESS YOU GET RID OF THEM IMMEDIATELY!"

Of course if I was a local contractor, renovating lots of properties in the town, or a local landlord owning lots of properties (adding to the tax revenue!)....I'm sure I'd magically be able to have chickens on every other property!

 

[Rozzie]

Do you have a garage? I'm thinking garage birds...

Do you have a patio? I'm thinking build an enclosed patio on the back of the house, then have a LOW hen house down close to the ground inside the cement floor, enclosed patio. Build a privacy fence in the backyard out of those panels that don't even have cracks between them (or nail furring strips over the cracks so they aren't peeking between them).

And, always remember that the darn satellites take pictures of everything that's IN your yard now. They can see everything that is not under a roof. Trust me. They went over our place and the darned google map pictures even show a coffee can that was in the yard by the garden. You can see what ROW of the garden we'd quit digging at that day. You could see where the garden hose was at. Bing is even worse. You can see the COLOR of everyone's swimming pools. I bet the code enforcement people have fun using those...

 

[circa1929]

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My garage is full,...no patio.
The problem is, on a "corner" property, they consider your house to have (get this!),.. "two fronts"! According to the "zoning ordinance" you cannot have a "privacy" fence at the "front of your house"!"
Hence go any higher on the side of your house with a fence greater than 3 foot tall!

That means according to the wacked-out zoning rules and people here, you have TWO "front" areas to your home,.. not one, but TWO!

Is THAT not a bunch of baloney??!!

 

[shortstaque]

Circa1929, the wording of the ordinance does not address chicken tractors, so there is nothing written that makes it illegal as far as I can see. Also, the law clearly states that you may have up to 14 hens.

I totally understand that given the corner location of your property, you do not wish to draw attention to yourself. A beautiful and creative solution could be to create a living fence or hedge. Three feet could be plenty tall to obscure a small mobile coop. Let me know if you would like any forsythia, euonymous (burning bush), or rose of sharon starts. They would beautify your property in spring summer and fall and provide gentle cover as well as shade and wind protection for a mobile coop. A chicken tractor for just 2 or three hens could be rather small and inconspicuous. It could also be very attractive and be made to look like a fancy garden cart, a nice doghouse or something similar, that would camouflage your little flock. A few pictures for reference.

I also encourage you to find others who are raising chickens in your area. I know they are out there you just have to find them. They usually hang out at places like Tractor Supply Company on Rt 309 or Agway on Rt 313 buying chicken feed, or Moyers Chicks on Paletown Road picking up chicks. The folks who work at these places can be great resources! As I suggested before, local farmers markets as well as roadside signs selling eggs are places to look for others raising chickens who may be able to give you more specific insight into raising chickens in your area.

While I advise against asking, thus drawing attention to yourself and questioning the legality of having chickens in your situation, I understand if you feel more comfortable clearing things with zoning. Before doing so though I would recommend arming yourself with information in support of your cause. For reference there was and article on legalizing urban hens in the December/January issue of Backyard Poultry Magazine Strategies for Legalizing Hens in Your Community. Also Mother Earth News offers this statement for use in obtaining support for small backyard flocks from local municipalities. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Happy-Homesteader/Statement-Chicken-Ordinances.aspx I know its tough, but try to stay positive and look for allies in the community, you can find them, even within the local government.

Best of luck whatever you decide to do!

 

[circa1929]

Well,...we'll see. I have to go over to the zoning guy this week anyway for something else I need to do, so maybe while I'm there I'll just go out on a limb and say I was looking to build a "Chicken Tractor", and keep chickens in it,.... then see what happens after I drop that on him. Hopefully it will go over better than a lead balloon!!

 

[Rozzie]

Quote:
My garage is full,...no patio.
The problem is, on a "corner" property, they consider your house to have (get this!),.. "two fronts"! According to the "zoning ordinance" you cannot have a "privacy" fence at the "front of your house"!"
Hence go any higher on the side of your house with a fence greater than 3 foot tall!

That means according to the wacked-out zoning rules and people here, you have TWO "front" areas to your home,.. not one, but TWO!

Is THAT not a bunch of baloney??!!

Ugh. Gotcha! That's one of the reasons I ran in fear from corner lots. Too much exposed to the world.

Somehow I think the founders of our nation would be up in arms over the country we've become, what with their beliefs about one purpose of government being to protect our LIBERTY. Can you imagine their reaction if they'd been told, sorry, you can't have a few chickens...The government says no garden in your front yard and no chicken keeping allowed. Yup, I'm sure that'd go over really well with them.

Edited. I really should proofread posts...