Sacramento, California Bee articles on legalizing chickens in the city

[The Sheriff]

Thanks Colleen,

Are you ok in Fair Oaks? You guys are part of the unincorporated county right? But, your lot is greater than 10,000 ft, correct? I never can remember how that equates to acres.

This is all so ridiculous!

 

[SilverPhoenix]

Good luck in this fight to own chickens in Sacramento, everyone! I'm rooting for you! I don't know what the big deal is about keeping chickens, even in the city... When properly cared for, they're certainly not messier or noisier than dogs or cats, and keeping a few hens, even in a small backyard, really doesn't seem like it would have much impact on anyone besides the chicken owners. Now guinea fowl on the other hand...

I feel fortunate that I live in an agricultural area (about an hour away from Sac) and therefore my poultry are A-OK.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
I am legal here too. We are zoned R-2 for hobby farming of animals less than 75 pounds.

 

[mammachick]

We are in Sacramento County and our lot is over 10,000sq ft. Does anyone know if roosters are allowed? Our 14wk cuckoo maran has been crowing for the past week, and I am worried someone is going to turn us in. I am trying to re-home him, so if any of you would like him let me know. We would prefer him to be a pet, not eaten!

I forgot to add, I am looking for some chicks or hens that are almost at laying stage. I would love to add some breeds that lay, blue, green or pink eggs.

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
The short answer is I read Colleen's answer below!.

Good luck. I think we are going to see a lot more of this chicken ruckus on the local news with the county upholding the ban and the city getting ready to perhaps change theirs.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

If you live in the unincorporated portions of Sacramento County and have a lot size 10,000 sf or larger, you can have chickens, roosters, ducks, geese, turkeys . . . basically any farm animal that does not exceed 75 pounds at adult weight. You can have larger animals with a larger lot size, but don't have that figure in my head. So yes, mammachick, you can have roosters.

Yes Mary, we are legal here. i did a ton of research before our move from Southern California. We were semi-illegal down there and i was always afraid of pissing off a neighbor who might then turn us in. Didn't want to worry when we moved here. We have 16,988 sf, which is approximately .39 acres. Although we have that easement in the back under the power lines that i don't think they count as our property, so we may have a bit more than .39.

On the acres to square foot conversion (which i had to calculate a million times when we were looking at homes):

1 acres = 43,560 sf
3/4 acres = 32,670 sf
1/2 acre = 21,780 sf
1/4 acres = 10,890 sf

10,000 sf converts to .22956 sf. i noticed when we were looking at homes that most regular residential lots were about .17 acres (7,405 sf). But the older parts of Sacramento County, like out where we live in the Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks area are a bit larger. i think there are probably a lot of folks who can have chickens that don't know it.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i was posting my long soliloquy while you posted, Mary. i wonder why they are talking about a crack-down on chickens now? Is it just because there is a big push to get them legal in the City of Sac? And there is on the books somewhere that $4,500 permit to have chickens (or is it just roosters). Any talk about that in the news?

 

[The Sheriff]

Quote:
I made Michael do this conversion on his IPhone last night in bed at 1:00 a.m.!

 

[The Sheriff]

The law has been on the books since 1950 that you can apply for a special permit to have chickens on lots under 10,000 sq ft. Only one person has applied for a permit in $60 because it costs $6,000.00! I read that last night on SacBee.com.

 

[mammachick]

I had also heard of needing a permit that costs 4500 which is crazy. I was wondering the details on the fee. But I have been afraid to ask. You would never be able to recoup the costs of that. We are in Orangevale area also.