Should I break the law??

[picklespickles]

it also depends on your neighbors. more than one has been won over with free eggs. just don't get a rooster.

 

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Here's one of my "parrots"!

Gwen is very friendly and lets you pick her up and carry her around. The breed is called Silkie.

Here is Daisy, another Silkie.

I have a third Silkie, Elvira, but you can view her picture in the "Who's your dumbest hen" thread.

 

[seminolewind]

silkies might be the way to go. They are smaller and easier to hide.
I live in a neighborhood where you are not allowed to have roosters, but you can have a million pigeons in a coop that looks better than your house! This must be why I hear so many roosters crowing in the morning!

 

[kv]

Do Silkies lay well?

kv

 

[gardener]

Someone correct me if i am wrong but the eggs are smaller (banty size) and about 3 per week a hen from what i have read.

 

[bantymum]

Hello, yes silkies lay very well, I get one per day , their eggs are smaller but the yolks seem to be nearly the same size as a standard egg.
maybe the the neighbours dont know the rules anyway and wont know any different.
Anyhow im sure you would only get a warning at first if thats the same as here.
They allow roosters in my city but only if noone complains, then we get a warning to rehome them.
Go for it!!!be empowered!!

 

[Scrambled Egg]

Partners in crime!! I am supposed to have only 10 by ordinance and now have 12 --and likely will have a couple of Buff hen biddies in the spring!! Yep, go for it, those dogs barking all the time will cover up and hen cackling!!

 

[Cheryl]

When you called the city, I hope you didn't leave your name? You can always play dumb! I think my pet chicken is done for the season...but depending upon where you live in this big ole country, there seems to be large groups of chicken lovers that are willing to help out! I LOVE THIS SITE and I want one of those cute buff bantams!!!! Unfortunately you will have to control yourself, chickens seem to be a very bad addiction!

 

[SpottedCrow]

Before you even got your birds, the thing to do would be to go online and actually look at the ordinances for your town...Look in the Animal section and also the Health Dept codes. I had to rehome my cockerel Jerry because he crowed and made a neigbhour's "Migraines worse". Which was a health code violation.

Animal control will give you an idea of leash laws and what your rights are if the neighbours' dogs attack and kill your birds when they get into your yard. I can shoot the buggers.

 

[kv]

I already called the zoning info for where I live. They are the ones who told me that I need a whole acre when I only have a half. Of course I did not leave my name! I do not live in the city, but the "county". It's best described as suburban, but very close to commercial areas. I am not planning to get any roosters, either.

I think if my immediate neighbors were out in the yard more, I wouldn't chance it. One of my neighbors actually lives several blocks away and only uses the house for his professional office. He is kind of elderly and virtually never comes out in the yard. The secretary is there more often but she is always inside. Since she doesn't even live around here she is probably most likely to be "bought off" with eggs.

The neighbors on the other side are also semi-retired and they travel constantly. They have half of their yard fenced off with a hugh stand of bamboo between me and their outdoor living space. They only come out to mow the grass.

The one I worry about is the one directly behind me--they just put up a new fence, but it is low and not opaque. I will have to plant shrubs to block the view. I see this is a long term project--I have to research how to raise them(the chickens) and also prepare the yard so that I have the most privacy.

I guess the problem is that this is an upscale (old) suburb--ethnically NOT at all into backyard homesteading. When we moved here 3 years ago, we did not sign any covenants with our deed but the president of the homeowners association is always going on about them. His pet peeve is fences--if only he knew what I have in mind!

I am going outside right now to plant 5 shrubs back there.
Thanks for all the input--will keep you posted
KV