Legalizing the flock

An unexpected outcome of all the neighborhood togetherness lately, the legality of my chicken flock has been questioned. So I just spent the last hour and a half going through the yard, measuring and making sure that we are within the law.

Basically, I can have 10 or fewer birds living in an enclosure that is not less than 50 feet from the neighbor's houses (not the property line - so I get to add in the distance from my fence to the neighboring houses). There is also a noise ordinance aimed at roosters that prohibits animals that make long, frequent loud noises that can be heard on neighboring property. Then, the regular pet animal ordinances apply - they have to be kept healthy and clean and have access to plenty of feed and water.

The code does not address free-ranging, (letting the chickens out to forage during the day). S0 I assume since the birds stay inside my backyard fence, that is legal to do. They sleep in an enclosed coop at night and are locked in the outdoor pen when we are away from the house during the daytime.

First off, ain't nobody starving around here. And the water is flowing like wine. Oh, how I wish that was the other way around... We got rid of the rooster before it even became a problem. That leaves us with 3 hens (though I'll add a couple of more in the spring) and the coops are cleaned at least weekly. So no worries there.

That only left an issue of the location of the coop. Luckily, I happen to have a 50 foot long tape measure. The outdoor pen is destined to become the overnight enclosure once I can make it a little more secure from predators. After measuring it out, I am now sure the coop is more than 50 feet from all the neighbor's homes.

Thus, legal yard bird! Score one for me and my flock.