very tired of being "chickenless"...ideas?

[onecent]

Most of you know I lost my chickens back in Jan 2010, I went up against the city & lost, now yesterday me and my DD went out & I stopped by an acquaintance of mine who has chickens in the city, (I live in a not so developed part) he said he had ac, the police, & someone from the city come pay him a visit, telling him he couldn't have his chickens, but he told them he used them for feeding his animals! so he is allowed to keep them!..........ok, he also told me about other people who have them in the city, which i already knew about, i would never throw any one under the bus so to speak , all i want is my chickens, can i over ride the city by going before a judge? I hate to go "under-ground" because i don't want to go through the pain of losing them again, but what on earth can i do? I thought about trying with the city again, when we get new council members and a new city manager, but i don't know how long they stay in office?? someone please give me some advice....thanks

(i had to edit, i used the word unincorporated, wrong word, sorry, I'm in the city limits, its just not so developed where I'm at)

 

[schellie69]

I am confused, here if you live in an unincorporated part of the city then city rules do not apply its county laws, I guess if I were you I might try to going through the county laws and see what happens. I would also try to see if their are others that want chickens. So sorry this sounds like a really hard thing to go through.

 

[chuckzoo]

Quote:
I second that.

 

[dkvart1]

I honestly don't know how it works with city councils... but... I think you could bring a proposal before them at any time to change existing codes. Here's what I would do if I were going to take on city hall.

1) get a petition started to change the codes, get as many people involved as possible. Once you're ready to present your proposal, ask these people to attend the meeting and hearings to show support.

2) draw up a basic proposal... size of lot, # of chickens (while I love roos, if in town I would omit them as I believe it is probably easier to get the changes through if people are worried about the "noise" factor).

3) research some other cities that allow the keeping of chickens and see what their requirements are in regard to housing, maintenance of coop, inspections, permits, etc. They vary widely... where we are planning on moving one of the requirements is that the coop be "whitewashed inside and out yearly! Be sure to address maintenance issues, especially the manure aspect of it! This always seems to be a big topic of concern in close quarters!

4) contact a couple of towns that allow chickens and see if they've had any problems since they've allowed the keeping of chickens. If they haven't I would ask them if they would be willing to write a letter showing their positive experience. Sometimes people just need to see the world isn't going to come to an end if a few chickens take up residence.

5) be prepared with as much information as possible. These guys LOVE stastics (for some reason it seems to comfort them and can help grease a wheel or two!)

You may get a lot more support that you expect. Times are tough and more and more people are taking up gardening in an effort to combat increasing food costs and to provide healthier food for their families. Chickens are just one more link in that chain, from healthy food to fertilizer for the garden.

I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of, but this is where I would start if I wanted to try to change things. After having to give up chickens once, I'm not sure I would want to go through that again.

Oh, one last thought. I might even enlist the help of someone I know (who's in an area that is allowed to have chickens) that has a nice well maintained smaller flock to allow for a field trip for the residents who are concerned. Sometimes it's most helpful for folks to experience a small operation in action. Most are totally unfamiliar with chickens and have some pretty darn strange notions about them. If they seem them in person, especially if it's a nice, clean, tidy operation it can go a long way on changing their minds.

Wishing you much luck!

Edited to add: I took on city hall in a small town years and years ago over composting, this type of preparation helped a lot.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

He's allowed to have animals that forage on poultry (lions, tigers and bears perhaps?) and raise their food but you can't have chickens as livestock? Something is very amiss with your fellow poultry keepers story. Different zoning within city limits maybe. No matter how goofy your city codes are I sugest working on changing them before you attempt underground chicken operations as most cities do fine for non adhearence to order of animal removal. Get a petition going and representative for poultry rights present at all future council meetings.

 

[onecent]

Ive already took on the city, did the petition, gave a list of all the cities in my state that allows chickens, ive done the whole nine yards! got local & national attention, had the mayer & a few city council members on my side, & still lost, i have a thread up here if anyone wants to go back & read it, ive even been told to go get some chickens & just "be quiet" about it, but i had my birds 4 yrs. & then had to give them up, that was painful, dont want to go through that again, and no, county has nothing to do with the city, and no special zoning in the city, this is just a little small town in NC, major cities in NC allow chickens, so im just trying to see if anyone knows if a judge can "override the city" or or how long do city officials stay in office....Ill find my ordinance & put it up, according to it i can have ducks , turkeys, goats & a few other things but no chickens!!! its so stupid!!!!


heres the city animal ordinance

§ 91.11 KEEPING OF CERTAIN ANIMALS REGULATED.

It shall be unlawful for any person to keep, maintain, house or allow upon his premises, whether such premises be owned outright by such person or leased from another, within the corporate limits, cows, horses, mules, chickens, bees or other non-domesticated animals, unless activity was in operation or existing prior to 1975.

 

[chickened]

Get them for religous reasons.

 

[lavacaw]

Quote:
Yeah! I think you need them for certain Santaria (spelling) rites. Then they fall under constitutional rights!

 

[Wifezilla]

Since when are chickens "non-domesticated"????

Also, I did not see quail on that list

Coturnix quail are very domesticated...to the point where they usually can't reproduce without artificial brooding. They might help you get your chicken fix until you can get the city idiots to play nice. They scratch like chickens, lay eggs like mad, and their singing is very pretty.

 

[onecent]

now i noticed too this line from the city ordinance

unless activity was in operation OR existing prior to 1975.

now, my dd played with a child who lived in this very house and they had chickens on this property! now the ordinance doesn't say I had to have them, just that they had to be here prior to 75....and they WERE???.....thoughts??? do i have anything to go on here?