Why are there so many ordinances against keeping chickens?

[mom'sfolly]

Here's a link to my town's ordinances. I think it is fairly thoughtfully written, with clear definitions and distinctions. Livestock are not allowed on less than 1 acre, but fowl are. They even define what constitutes a "unit" of livestock.

http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/docs/ordinances_ch_02.pdf

Hope it helps. I'm technically in violation of the law because I let my chickens free range in the yard.

 

[SeaChick]

Nugget and Guitartists:
We succesfully fought this battle in our town last summer and it wasn't easy. It really took all summer long and a lot of effort. Here's the ordinance that our city drafted, which is quite strict!
http://southportland.govoffice.com/...ds/{3BF42F42-5556-44A7-B300-A55999FBD96F}.DOC

The basic arguments we used were that these would be PET HENS, not barnyard animals, and that as such they'd be cared for in the same responsible manner as any suburban pet, i.e. rabbits in a backyard hutch (allowed here). We also talked a lot about the Green Living/Sustainable part of it, partly because that was our main impetus for getting hens, and also because that is a hot issue here right now.

My daughter found a city council member willing to support us and we really spent the whole summer going to meetings and "campaigning". it was not easy!

In the end, it was the public support we garnered, I beleive, that convinced the few councilmen adamently against the change. I believe the town received over 500 emails in support, and only about 50 against. But that took a lot of work. We had a web site (http://www.sailzora.com/chickens.htm) with an on-line petition; we got the press to give good coverage (see the links to the stories on the left of the page) and we did a lot of email and person-to-person campaigning, handing out pamphlets and urging folks to email the city councilors.

here's the sort of opposition we came up against, and our rebuttals: http://www.sailzora.com/opposition.htm

Feel free to use any and all of the info/resources on the web site if you choose to try this in your own towns.

Good luck,
Stacey

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Before I got my birds I read a fantastic book titled "Keep Chickens!" by Barbara Kilarski. It's written especially for folks keeping just a few chickens in their backyards in suburbia. I think there's info there about how to change the statues in your community if they currently prohibit chickens.

There are some places where they have community chicken runs and veg gardens, that may also be an option, especially in more densely populated places or gated communities.

 

[patandchickens]

I think the reasons differ from town to town. In some case, the ordinances were aimed at cleaning up reeking mud-swamp backyards with noisy 'farm animals' (and btw hens most certainly CAN be noisy, some individuals more than others).

In others, the ordinances were enacted out of fears that the above would start to occur if people were allowed to get whatever critters they wanted.

In other cases the ordinances were a way of trying to keep Those People out of Our Nice Neighborhoods (the identity of "those people" varying among regions and eras, but generally meaning "Those From Different Ethnicities Or Socioeconomic Backgrounds Than The Town Council <haughty sniff>").

In some other cases probably have the ordinance for no particularly good reason other than 'that's what other towns do so we should do the same because there must be some important reason for it right?'

Sure, it is illogical that your neighbor can have two huge barking pooping-all-over peeing-all-over dogs and you can't have two quiet clean egg-producing chickens. But if you consider how illogical many OTHER town laws and zoning regulations are, the chicken thing just fits right in

And as Seachick says, more and more people are getting things like that overturned, so, perhaps SOME logic is slowly seeping in

Pat

 

[Bawkadoodledoo]

hmm maybe we should hook up some guys to their cow milk machines where the sun don't shine... yu know those guys that make their cows stand in one place for 18 months

 

[Nugget]

Thank you for sharing, Stacy- and congratulations on getting it passed.

 

[talos321]

Haha do what my brother did in his neighborhood. He told them his Silkies were endangered Egyptian Flightless Woo Hoo Parrots and he was rehabilitating them. They had become endangered due to Nile Crocodile intrusion. He found an inexpensive used large Parrot type Aviary for his backyard and houses them in that. To this day his neighbors think he raises special parrots and brag to their visitors about it. You know the Silkies are very unchicken looking.

 

[poltroon]

Quote:
There are some very simple things you can do:

1. Whatever organization she's fighting it with (say the city zoning commission), send a letter in support.
2. Write a letter to your local newspaper.
3. If there is a public hearing for her with a local government board (as opposed to a trial with a judge), you can attend it and make a brief statement of support.

I think it's time that all of us in jurisdictions with limits on chickens, on clotheslines, on gardening need to start rising up and changing the world.

 

[SeaChick]

poltroon is 100% right. Each little bit of support that city council (or whomever) hears or sees, in the form of a letter, email, letter to the editor of the paper, and especially showing up in person at a public hearing, makes a BIG impression. The city elected don't like to say "no" to their constituents, and if enough of you support the chickens, they'll have to pass it.

 

[Guitartists]

I'm certainly going to try and get something going.... This is where I live http://www.cbpu.com/bronson/