Is A Chicken Considered A Domestic Animal In Pa

Is is legal to raise chickens in my suburban backyard? Before embarking on your own suburban homestead adventure, it'south important to enquire yourself the question raised in the title of this post.

I personally think that people should take merely as much right to have pet chickens equally they do dogs and cats, but the reality is that many municipalities and suburban subdivisions have rules confronting keeping chickens. Even if chickens are allowed where you live, there may exist a long list of conditions that utilise – anything from the number of chickens you can have to the pattern of the chicken coop.

You will save yourself a lot of potential angst if you understand the rules before building a coop and bringing home your new pets.

A happy suburban chicken

Why are there laws regulating backyard chickens?

In the early twentieth century, backyard chickens were mutual across America. Chickens were easy to raise and didn't accept up a whole lot of space, and a small flock of backyard chickens supplied the family with eggs and meat for little price.

Backyard chickens weren't merely permitted in those days; they were encouraged, as reflected in this 1918 magazine advertisement:

Poster circa 1918: Uncle Sam expects you to raise chickens

So what happened?

By the middle of the twentieth century, food product had become industrialized, ensuring a ready supply of inexpensive poultry and eggs in grocery stores. With an automobile in the driveway and a fridge in the kitchen, it was easy for people to transport meat and eggs domicile from the supermarket and store them to consume later. People no longer needed to proceed chickens to feed their families.

At the same time, during the prosperous years following World War II, the modern American suburb was born. Suburban developments wanted to be seen equally cosmopolitan, desirable places to live. A ban confronting farm animals was one style for such communities to distance themselves from their unsophisticated rural roots. No longer necessary in a modern globe, backyard chickens were viewed every bit a nuisance – noisy, smelly relics of a bygone fourth dimension that attracted vermin and posed a threat to the public health.

Today, with growing interest in the local food movement and in adopting a simpler, more than sustainable way of life, backyard chickens are dorsum in way. Yet many decades-sometime chicken bans are still on the books, making conscientious investigation of the laws in your surface area an important commencement step in any craven keeping endeavor.

What are common restrictions related to backyard chickens?

The laws vary from customs to community. Some laws do not allow chickens to be kept at all; others allow chickens every bit long as certain requirements are met.

A Fort Wayne, Indiana ordinance, which currently is subject to a citizen challenge, is a proficient example of a municipal ban on backyard chickens. Information technology provides:

No Person shall keep a Domestic Farm Animal in the Metropolis limits unless canonical by the Department of Planning Services.

The ordinance further defines "Domestic Subcontract Animals" as:

Calves, cattle, emus, goats, horses, ponies, llamas, ostriches, poultry, sheep, pigs or porcine of whatsoever variety including Vietnamese Pot Bellied pigs, and like Animals (pigeons shall not exist considered to be Domestic Subcontract Animals).

As for those cities that allow chickens nether certain circumstances, almost no two ordinances are alike. A 2008 study by the University of New Mexico examined the residential craven ordinances of 25 cities that allow chickens under at least some circumstances. The report identified the following common themes:

Regulations related to the number of chickens allowed: Local rules often place a limit on the number of chickens that may exist kept per household, either by specifying a flat number of birds allowed (3 to four is common) or using lot size as the determining gene.

Regulation of roosters: Many communities do not permit roosters. Such rules won't impact those who wish to raise chickens for eggs – it's a mutual misconception that a hen needs a rooster to lay eggs.

Required fees and permits: Many municipalities crave a permit to continue chickens and/or the payment of a one-fourth dimension or annual fee.

Containment requirements: Some communities require chickens to exist bars at all times in a coop or outdoor run, meaning free-ranging is not immune.

Regulations related to chicken enclosures: There may be specific requirements regarding the size and pattern of the coop or the materials that may be used. Building permits or preapproval of coop plans may exist required before construction.

Setback requirements for coops: The rules may crave chicken coops and outdoor runs to be located a sure minimum distance from neighboring homes or holding lines. Setbacks requirements vary greatly and, in communities with small lot sizes, may be difficult to attain.

Restrictions regarding the slaughtering of chickens: It may exist illegal to slaughter chickens in residential areas. A no-impale rule would impact those who wish to raise chickens for meat or intend to cull hens that no longer lay eggs.

Nuisance clauses: Some communities may regulate chicken-keeping by prohibiting nuisances that result from the improper intendance and maintenance of backyard chickens. Nuisance clauses may address things like racket, odor, disposal of manure, conditions that attract rodents and other pests, and other public health concerns.

law books

How practice I find the rules that utilize to me?

There are several categories of rules that may apply to your ownership of chickens, so it is important that you know where to look. Here are a few places to start:

Zoning laws and ordinances: Local zoning laws regulate how a holding may be used. To find out the zoning category for your property, enquire your local zoning office or urban center hall for a copy of the zoning ordinance, which is a public record. Many communities brand their zoning ordinances and maps available online.

Once you know the zoning category for your property, you volition need to review the permitted uses for that category. If your zoning category is agricultural, raising chickens probable will exist a permitted apply. If your belongings is zoned equally residential or commercial, restrictions may use.

I live in a residential zoning district in unincorporated Johnson County, Iowa. The zoning ordinance identifies the permitted uses in this district, including:

The keeping of poultry, pigeons, rabbits, and other pocket-sized animals and fowl (for personal employ and not commercial utilise).

Accordingly, under the zoning laws, I may keep chickens on my belongings every bit long as I am not doing and then to sell the chickens or the eggs.

Restrictive covenants: In addition to zoning regulations, many residential developments also are subject to restrictive covenants. Restrictive covenants are clauses in existent holding deeds that limit what the owner may exercise with the belongings. Such clauses typically are enforced past a homeowners clan. If your property is subject to restrictive covenants (or homeowners association rules), you demand to determine whether they identify limitations on your ability to enhance chickens.

The restrictive covenants of my subdivision specifically address poultry and provide that poultry may be kept only "in reasonable numbers as pets for the pleasure and use of the occupants and not for any commercial use or purpose." What is a "reasonable number" is non defined, but it would exist my position if challenged (and I never have been) that three is a reasonable number of hens, especially since there are several homeowners in the neighborhood with iii or more dogs.

My subdivision's restrictive covenants also provide that all pets must be contained in an enclosure (or secured on a leash or under voice control, which isn't going to happen for my chickens). So no free-ranging for yous, girls. Sorry! Also, enclosures must exist located in back of the dwelling and kept well-maintained, make clean, and complimentary of offensive odors.

Lease restrictions: If you hire your property, yous will need to bank check the terms of your lease understanding to make up one's mind if it contains any restrictions on your ability to raise chickens.

Other rules: Restrictions that impact your ability to keep chickens may lurk throughout your community's municipal code. Some communities may regulate chicken keeping through fauna control or nuisance ordinances. The local building code may identify restrictions on how chicken coops and other enclosures are designed and synthetic. Information technology is important to do your research and understand all the rules that may apply.

What practice I do if chicken keeping is illegal in my customs?

Ane thing not to do is continue chickens in violation of the law. Sneaking effectually gets old and, trust me, when you accept chickens, you want to share your joy (and eggs) with the world. And the situation can end badly – with your beloved pets confiscated, fines imposed, and neighbors alienated. As well, your condone of the constabulary may undermine efforts of others in the community to go the laws inverse.

You can exist the change!

Find agreeing people and band together to effectuate change in your community. Many communities have changed their ordinances to allow backyard chickens. Look to these success stories for inspiration.

The story of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and C.50.U.C.

Rebecca Mumaw is a citizen of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who decided that she wanted to heighten backyard chickens. The problem was chicken keeping was illegal in the city. Mumaw didn't permit an primitive constabulary stop her. Instead, she formed a grassroots system, Citizens for the Legalization of Urban Chickens (C.L.U.C.), and reached out to city leaders to get the law inverse.

Thanks to the efforts of Mumaw and C.L.U.C., urban chickens have been legal in Cedar Rapids since August 30, 2010. Since so, Cedar Rapids' urban chicken ordinance has been used as a model for communities across the United States. The ordinance, which Mumaw helped to typhoon, provides every bit follows:

Residents are allowed to keep upwards to six hens (no roosters) on unmarried family dwelling house properties.
Permits are required for an almanac fee of $25.
Applicants for permits are required to notify their neighbors of their intent to obtain a allow and to complete an approved ii-hour class on raising chickens in an urban setting (cost $10-12).
Chickens must be kept in an enclosed or fenced surface area and secured from predators at night.
Henhouses must provide at least 4-square-feet of space per bird and meet certain design requirements.
Chicken enclosures must be kept in the backyard and be located at to the lowest degree 10 feet from the property line and 25 feet from neighboring homes.
Chickens must be provided with adequate food and water and kept in a manner to minimize noise, smell, and attraction of pests and predators.
Slaughtering of chickens is not allowed.

Today, C.L.U.C. works to facilitate the legalization of urban chickens in other communities by existence a source of knowledge and guidance to others who are working to bring most modify.

How do I bring near change in my customs?

Counting My Chickens asked Rebecca Mumaw to provide some advice to others seeking to modify their communities' laws regarding backyard chickens. These are her tips:

Practice your research and seek expert advice: Earlier approaching the city council, Mumaw and C.L.U.C. anticipated concerns that might be raised in opposition to urban chickens, such as noise, odor, manure disposal, and wellness issues. They then contacted the head of the poultry extension service at Iowa State University and asked him detailed questions nigh each issue. Finally, they compiled the results of their research into an information packet.

"When we presented the information to the city quango, they couldn't dispute it because it came from the person who keeps spotter over the health of all the poultry flocks in Iowa," Mumaw said.

Early on, C.L.U.C. also partnered with the local nature center, which Mumaw said lent instant credibility to her organization.

Find back up from within: Accomplish out to individual city quango members, educate them, answer their questions in a respectful manner, and identify the ones who will be most receptive to your cause. Those internal backers tin can be influential in your efforts to become other council members to yes.

Utilise the power of social media to your advantage: Using Facebook and other social media is an constructive way to build a grassroots arrangement and to network with other similar organizations effectually the country. Early in Mumaw's urban chicken legalization effort, one city quango member recommended that she create a Facebook page.

"When you become 500 likes on your page, I will beginning to listen," the councilwoman told her.

By reaching out to others with similar pages and using social media to spread the word near her crusade, Mumaw presently garnered more than ane,000 likes on her page.

"That carried more than weight than a petition," Mumaw said.

Make your asking specific and short: C.50.U.C.'due south backyard chicken proposal to the Cedar Rapids City Quango consisted of three simple bullet points: Six hens, no roosters, and no slaughtering. Other provisions were added through a negotiated process to address citizen concerns.

"Keep it as simple and as reasonable equally possible," Mumaw recommended.

Get in front of the city quango often: C.Fifty.U.C. members attended city council meetings on a regular basis. Their brilliant yellow t-shirts printed with "Got Eggs?" were a visual representation of the wide support for urban chickens. During the public annotate session of each meeting, three C.Fifty.U.C. members would address the council to voice their support of urban chickens in a respectful, clear manner.

Know where you lot stand up: "Before you ask the council to take it to a vote, brand sure you lot have enough votes," Mumaw said, noting that if a proposed backyard craven ordinance is voted downwards, information technology may exist several years earlier the city council is willing to have it up again. If you aren't certain if you take majority support for your proposal, keep talking and go along educating.

A last word of communication from Mumaw: "Be patient and be persistent."

A basket of eggs