- May 24, 2014
- 5
- 0
- 7
My husband has been dying to have chickens for years. We have an amazing garden (thanks to him) and he found in his research that in addition to not being a nuisance, chickens are a great way to cut down or eliminate the need for chemical pesticides, and their poop is great in the compost.
In May, we got 6 chicks from a local-ish farm. According to our town's zoning, we are permitted by right to keep chickens indoors, and would need a special use permit for outdoors. One of our neighbors heard that we'd gotten chicks and started getting the neighbors riled up about it as well. Someone reported us to the town, and we received a letter from the town saying we needed to remove the chickens from the property, citing the section of the zoning ordinance that references outdoor chickens. I wrote back, using as close to the same language as the zoning official (who had by telephone confirmed that we are allowed to keep our hens under the indoor section) and said that unless they informed us that the information they gave us was wrong, we'd be keeping our birds.
Still no word back from the town, and our ladies are healthy and happy little cluckers. I plan on using some of the resources from this site to try to change the zoning ordinance to allow a small backyard flock outdoors, but I'm waiting until the most grumpy of our neighbors is back in Florida in the fall.
Hubby built the coop in the basement, near the stairs up, and when we are in the yard working or playing, the chickens come with us and hang out in the garden or grass.
In May, we got 6 chicks from a local-ish farm. According to our town's zoning, we are permitted by right to keep chickens indoors, and would need a special use permit for outdoors. One of our neighbors heard that we'd gotten chicks and started getting the neighbors riled up about it as well. Someone reported us to the town, and we received a letter from the town saying we needed to remove the chickens from the property, citing the section of the zoning ordinance that references outdoor chickens. I wrote back, using as close to the same language as the zoning official (who had by telephone confirmed that we are allowed to keep our hens under the indoor section) and said that unless they informed us that the information they gave us was wrong, we'd be keeping our birds.
Still no word back from the town, and our ladies are healthy and happy little cluckers. I plan on using some of the resources from this site to try to change the zoning ordinance to allow a small backyard flock outdoors, but I'm waiting until the most grumpy of our neighbors is back in Florida in the fall.
Hubby built the coop in the basement, near the stairs up, and when we are in the yard working or playing, the chickens come with us and hang out in the garden or grass.
