|
It all depends on your local code too. If you're not legally allowed to keep chickens and you have a neighbor who takes offense, then you have a problem on your hands. However, if it's within your legal right to keep chickens and a neighbor doesn't like it then they can just sit and spin about it.  Which of course is the only reason I don't have chickens. Chicken coops are currently illegal where we live, with a fine of $1000 per chicken per day. People around us still keep chickens illegally, but I have a neighbor behind me who is the type that would totally call the cops on chickens. So instead I'm doing things to support the locals who are petitioning to change the code.
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2011 16:44
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:40 |
|
|
Just make sure you read the entire code, not just what's on the backyard chickens website (they should have the link to the code there for you). Their website lists where I live (Henrico County, VA) as allowing chickens. The section of code they quoted does seem to indicate that chickens are allowed, but only if they "observe the distance requirements of Section 24-10", which states that a coop has to be 400 feet from the property line. That means you'd have to own over 4 acres to have chickens. The local grassroots pro-chicken group put together a nifty slideshow to promote chickens, which also shows how ridiculous our current law is. Those of you who are interested can see it here: http://www.slideshare.net/CampusBookstore/chickunz-v6
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2011 18:56
|
|
|
My doctor husband suggests giving the chickens lots of leafy green veggies to be safe. They would be high in Vitamin K, which is known to counteract coumadin, a common anticoagulant/rat poison. Kale, swiss chard, spinach, beet, collard and mustard greens all have lots of vitamin K, and would be a tasty treat they would love anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2011 15:24
|
|
|
Catkin posted:
Fun fact: the oils this gland secretes contain vitamin D precursors, which turn into the active form of the vitamin upon exposure to UV. The birds then ingest the vitamin D at their next preening. This is how birds manage to get their vitamin D requirements despite the fact that their skin never gets sun exposure. I just found this out a couple weeks ago, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let a useless fact like this go unshared.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 14, 2011 05:47
|
|
That's the uropygial gland. Birds use it to oil their feathers to keep them well-maintained!
|
No doubt. I don't have chickens because our county ordinance is that you have to have 400 feet (over a football field!!) between any chicken coop and "inhabited structure"- including your own house. If they catch you with chickens you have 10 days to get rid of them, after that point the fine is $100 per chicken per day you are in violation. The ordinance was obviously written up with commercial farms in mind, but there's no leeway for the backyard enthusiast who just wants a handful of hens- and plenty of backyard enthusiasts have gotten hit by this, having to get rid of chickens that have been part of their family for months or even years just because some utility guy happened to spot them and rat them out. Lots of people have chickens here, and most of the time you'd never know it. But there's always that risk that some blabbermouth would turn them in and all would be for naught. So instead of keeping chickens I live vicariously through this thread, and support the local grassroots movement to change the ordinance. But I guarantee you, the day after the ordinance is changed is the day I build my coop.
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2012 13:56
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 21:40 |
|
|
I just have to say as someone who has a lot of experience with USPS, I would definitely NOT prefer my live chicks be sent Priority Mail. The dirty little secret that they don't tell you is that the 2-3 days is not a guarantee, just an "expected time of arrival". Priority mail is really just first-class mail- any package over 14 ounces that's sent first class is automatically priority. They ship priority in the same fashion as all the other first-class mail, it just gets a special bin in the post office and on the trucks. Express, on the other hand (while exorbitantly expensive) is a guaranteed next-day air mail that gets handled completely separate from the glut of first-class. In chicken related news, City of Richmond is having a proposal before the council this month to change the regulations on backyard chickens. I'm really hoping it passes because then hopefully my county will realize they're the only one in the entire central VA tri-city area with their heads in their asses about backyard poultry.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 25, 2012 13:22
|
|