Rooster Question (Amelia Court House, VA 23002)

[TurkishFarmer]

I am planning to move (Amelia Court House, VA 23002) area this month, I have 5 acres land. I am planning to get rooster (Light Brahma), and 10 chickens. Do you know any regulations about the rooster in this area?

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[DobieLover]

I am planning to move (Amelia Court House, VA 23002) area this month, I have 5 acres land. I am planning to get rooster (Light Brahma), and 10 chickens. Do you know any regulations about the rooster in this area?

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Try calling animal control {(804) 561-3878} and ask them what the ordinance is on owning roosters where you are moving. If they don't know, they should be able to put you in contact with someone that does.

 

[TurkishFarmer]

Try calling animal control {(804) 561-3878} and ask them what the ordinance is on owning roosters where you are moving. If they don't know, they should be able to put you in contact with someone that does.

Thank you so much.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Do you know your Zoning, where you are moving? Here is the County Zoning Ordinance.

I'm on a cell phone with bad signal, but you should read it. Unfortunately, its NOT searchable for me.

Starting in the definitions, however, I see some concerning language for your purposes.

and

and

You have a lot of Zoning Districts, looks like very few will allow your intended use and all will require a lot of land (Yes, chickens are treated less "fairly" than cows in your code, but at least it talks about "animal units", not total head count). Oddly, they did not define "Animal Unit", so far as I can determine in a quick glance.

Just from the definitions, it appears you can only have poultry on a "Agriculture, Limited" basis or better, which can include roosters. Limited Agriculture, on a plot of less than 10 acres (excluding horses) is allowed in Zones A-5, RP-5, RR-3, R-10, R-5, and R-3. That's actually better than I expected.

Absent a definition in the code, I'm **assuming** this document is accurate for Animal Unit equivalents, but of course could be wrong. On page 27, itsays that laying hens and broilers are 0.01 AU each. If you are allowed 1AU/5 acres at max, that's 20 birds per acre (including roosters). Since each of the places where raising poultry is allowed (A5 thru R3) have standard lot sizes of 3 acres or greater, assuming the property has not been subdivided below the minimum size, and you comply with all required setbacks, you should be able to have your flock of 11 if your property is zoned appropriately.

I hope you find that helpful.

(and it occurs to me that I really should write a "how to", as often as I seem to be doing this research for people - it is rather easy, just time consuming.)

 

[TurkishFarmer]

Do you know your Zoning, where you are moving? Here is the County Zoning Ordinance.

I'm on a cell phone with bad signal, but you should read it. Unfortunately, its NOT searchable for me.

Starting in the definitions, however, I see some concerning language for your purposes.

View attachment 2659384

and

View attachment 2659385

and
View attachment 2659395
View attachment 2659391

You have a lot of Zoning Districts, looks like very few will allow your intended use and all will require a lot of land (Yes, chickens are treated less "fairly" than cows in your code, but at least it talks about "animal units", not total head count). Oddly, they did not define "Animal Unit", so far as I can determine in a quick glance.

View attachment 2659401

Just from the definitions, it appears you can only have poultry on a "Agriculture, Limited" basis or better, which can include roosters. Limited Agriculture, on a plot of less than 10 acres (excluding horses) is allowed in Zones A-5, RP-5, RR-3, R-10, R-5, and R-3. That's actually better than I expected.

Absent a definition in the code, I'm **assuming** this document is accurate for Animal Unit equivalents, but of course could be wrong. On page 27, itsays that laying hens and broilers are 0.01 AU each. If you are allowed 1AU/5 acres at max, that's 20 birds per acre (including roosters). Since each of the places where raising poultry is allowed (A5 thru R3) have standard lot sizes of 3 acres or greater, assuming the property has not been subdivided below the minimum size, and you comply with all required setbacks, you should be able to have your flock of 11 if your property is zoned appropriately.

I hope you find that helpful.

(and it occurs to me that I really should write a "how to", as often as I seem to be doing this research for people - it is rather easy, just time consuming.)

Thank you for sending me the information. It was exactly what I needed.
EDIT : My zone is RR-3