Questions for outlaws!

[Chickenaddict]

I'm also illegal here in a suburban neighborhood.
DO I hide the chickens? NO In fact I let them roam the yard all the time, they are soooo popular around here alll the neighbors come to visit on a regular basis. It wasn't always illegal here just last june they rewrote a new ordinance. If you are on 3 acres and the chicken coop/run is 150 ft away from alll neighbors you are ok however we are only on an acre but had the chickens before it was "illegal"

If the time comes and they come a knocking I along with alll my awesome neighbors will fight city hall to keep them. Animal control out here is the sherriff, he waves when he drives by as I am out in the yard tossing treats to the chickens. I have been worrying alot more lately, just a gut feeling something is about to hit the fan right as we are in the middle of building a new coop for them.

If they came and told me I had no choice but to rehome them well...... I got a HUGE crawl space! Some of the birds I keep are special needs chickens, they can't go anywhere else as no one will care for them the way I do. Some I have grown really attatched to and it would tear my heart out to have to get rid of them. I refuse to give into their stupid laws and ordinances!!!! If it wasn't for the "illegal chicken activities" that had been going on around here they would have left the original ordinance alone.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
LOL - we have one of these as well. When I first moved into the neighborhood, he actually gathered together a little posse (there were him and 3 other men from the neighborhood) and the four of them went and knocked on the door of my next-door neighbor to complain that his front lawn was too untidy. Even though it wasn't me, I was mad on his behalf because he was a young kid (24) working really hard to own his own home, working a full-time job during the day and then coming home and working all evening to build his home with his own bare hands and just hadn't had time to do yard work yet. Since then, this same neighbor has taken it on himself to complain about anyone who doesn't do things the way he would. I actually take some delight in the fact that my lawn is not perfect. It has a mix of grasses (oh no!) and even some clover (oy vei). I just figure I have more going on in my life than working on the perfect lawn and as long as I keep it trimmed and neat, there isn't a darn thing he can do about it so....there's more than one way of extending the finger.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Chickenaddict, chances are your birds are grandfathered in, and are not actually illegal.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Quote:
I had called the county extension when I heard about the new ordinance and asked about what I have to do to obtain the permit required now and the lady asked how many chickens I intended to keep I told her 30, she said she'd get back to me, this was last may. I haven't heard anything so far so perhaps your right. I sure hope so anyway.

 

[flgardengirl]

I'm legal now but when I wasn't, I was thinking that if I got busted for my roo crowing I would just say it was my Amazon parrot

He knows how to imitate all kinds of animals. dogs, cats, pot belly pigs, other kinds of birds and even crows like a rooster on occasion...so it wouldn't be like really lying lol. Soooo if you own a parrot....

 

[Mak]

According to the zoning ordinances here, we are zoned residential/agricultural, BUT you have to have 2 acres to keep livestock. We don't have that much. A lot, but not that much. That said, I know there are people around us who have chickens, and I don't think they all have 2 acres, either. Not that I've gone and measured! One of them even has a rooster. I hear him crowing all day long. So we are going for it. We plan to build a nice, attractively sided and finished combination garden shed and coop, and I'll plant flowers around it to make it pretty. From the street, all you will see is the garden shed. The run will be on the other (coop) side, and will be all but invisible to anyone around us. No rooster for me, either.

We'll see how it goes, I guess.

I really wish we could afford to buy the property hubby sent me a link to today. 19 acres, cute little house. I could definitely have chickens there!

 

[tammyd57]

Quote:
I have a Blue Front Amazon Parrot and he crows too!

But as far as I know, roosters don't don't come in that particular shade of green.

edited to say: I've never been illegal as far as chickens go.............

 

[Lucy4]

Keep them as far away from problematic neighbor's property lines as possible. That's my two cents.

I knew most of my neighbors wouldn't care (and they don't) but the ones closest to us complain about everything. Didn't matter that I brought her eggs and veggies from the garden, that we did everything we could to appease her. What I should have done was hide that coop in every possible way. I didn't. She called the town, we got the violation order.

We're very blessed that we received a variance after much work, but if I could do it all again... I'd make sure that witch had no idea about the chickens. We are saving for a privacy fence as I type this.

Egg songs are indeed very loud. I find free ranging them in the morning cuts it down. They don't want to waste their energy singing when there are bugs to be eaten. Don't know if that's just my girls or not.

Also: Easter eggers/ameraucanas, etc? Loud. Mine are loud, my friends' are loud. Go for a quieter breed. Maybe an australorp?

 

[suburbanminifarm]

I am illegal-- I am in suburbia here and the new law says 6 or 8 (I forget) but I have waaaaaaaay more than that plus roos. I'll never give them up. The roos I lock up till 10 am. I bribe my immediate neighbors with eggs.
I reccomend using the Henderson's chicken breed chart and obtaining only quieter breeds, that's what I did. Also consider only bantams-- their song is only partly as loud generally speaking. Trees and foliage do a lot to buffer noises that might otherwise carry over distance. I also agree that if they are busy and free ranging they seem to make less noise than they would if bored and locked up. I hope you enjoy your girls-- they are so worth it!

 

[Morgan7782]

Flying under the radar here too. But I am walking distance to the county limit. Think that excuse will work with city officials? Hahaha. I also live in a BAD part of Sacramento, and due to the many cop cuts, any animal control officers, or police, are too busy chasing down ACTUAL criminals.

I decided to go with 3 chickens, and the only neighbor I am concerned with is directly behind me. They are in their yard a lot, but the other day I spoke to her through the fence and she demanded colored eggs if my EE hens law blue/green eggs. LOL! Nice.

If I happen to run across a rooster, I will have to rehome it. No way I could fly under the radar with a roo. Though I would LOVE to have one. There are a bunch of roosters down the road a ways, and sadly I can only assume they are for fighting. Lovely Sacramento. Bleh.

Hopefully I won't run into trouble. When I had two hens in Grass Valley we were in city limits/illegal, and there was a highway patrolman who lived next door. But it ended up being totally fine

:fingers crossed: