A Tearful Goodbye
I cannot even tell you how upsetting this news is...first to be betrayed by a neighbor and second to have to say goodbye to my girls. I have always been very upfront with my immediate neighbors, checking in to see if the chickens bothered them, giving them eggs when we had a surplus...so I find this all the more shocking.
Providence is SO behind on the times...it is still illegal to keep chickens in our city. Luckily there is a group of citizens fighting to change these laws...and you can bet that I jumped right in to the fight yesterday. I will be working with several local leaders to amp up the fight, and my hope is that if all things go well and the law is changed, I will have my girls back within the year.
I would love to hear from any chicken owners who have fought the laws in their town...and if you are a Providence local interested in joining the fight...shoot me an email...christine.chitnis@gmail.com. The city just doesn't know who they are dealing with!!
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Well, most cities in our area (san diego county) allow chickens *but* the coop has to be 30 feet from neighboring houses. That's pretty tough to manage without a large yard. Only way we could do it if it we stuck the coop up our fairly steep back slope. I think most cities are not that lenient with chicken rules...
You'd think that your neighbor would confront you first if they had an issue with it. Unbelievable!
and to think i viewed Providence as a very 'forward-thinking' little city...hmm. i know that you hate to see your girls go, but i trust that you are happy with their next home [otherwise, you would never choose that destination!]. thinking of you, christine!! *
Seems to me you would have checked your local ordinances BEFORE proceeding with getting chickens. Your neighbors are not to blame - you are.
Good luck in your efforts to get the law changed.
christine! i'm so sorry to hear your news. i don't have a yard big enough for chickens, but if you ever need strength in numbers, let me know!
I am so sad to hear about the betrayal! I live in a very rural county (less than 300 kids in the high school) and we are not allowed to have chickens. What a joke. Keep us up-to-date on the fight.
What?!? That's crazy, what is the problem with chickens?! Sorry about this- I hope you get them back!
That's horrible news! I live in the country and have 14 chickens. One of my birds is a rooster who will soon be going away to someone who wants to hatch out fertilized eggs...we could choose to keep him, but we are happy with having just hens. BUT, I can't imagine how violated I'd feel if someone told me I HAD to get rid of him, let alone all of my hens. I wish you the best of luck as you take on the laws of your town! Hopefully there is at least a local source of good eggs for you to buy, I know I'd never be able to go back to grocery store eggs!
I'm so sorry you have to send your chickens away! I hope you get them back soon. Good luck with your law-changing campaign... it can be a long and hard journey. I'm sure you're well aware of all the tips and advice on such thing in the Backyard Chickens Forum.
If our city code didn't allow chickens, we wouldn't have any because I know the crazy neighbor would report it. I do think it's kind of lame that your neighbors accept your eggs but then ratted you out (or do you think it was a non-immediate neighbor?)
chacha - While SD County is pretty good about allowing chickens, the restrictions vary wildly city to city. The distance between coops and houses range from 20 feet to 50 feet (who has that kind of space?) and the number of chickens allowed ranges from 3 to 25. In Poway, we have to maintain a 35-foot distance and we're only allowed 6 chickens. We're not specifically prohibited from keeping a rooster, but the noise ordinance trumps the animal code and I'm pretty sure my crazy neighbor would complain about a rooster. Our other neighbors are just fine with our hens. One said he even missed the sounds of the rooster and goats in the property behind him!
Wow that really sucks - what an awful thing to do to someone! I really can't understand how people can be so cruel.
THe important thing is that the lovely chickens are safe and have happy homes, so don't feel too terrible. I know it's tough to have to let go of something you love, but maybe you could visit! And if all goes well, you will have them back soon enough.
I'm so sorry to hear about your chickens and am glad you were able to find them a good home.
My town has restrictions on chickens and clothes lines. I bet if read all the fine print I wouldn't be allowed to have a compost pile either.
Anyway, I hope the neighbor that squealed gets lots of bug bites this summer because your chickens weren't around to keep the populations down.
Good luck with your upcoming fight!
jeez that's horrible! i'm so sorry! Portland is a really great city to have chickens in...i don't know all of the details but basically you just can't have too many or a rooster. i really hope you get your girls back! i'd be so sad to see mine go.
Maybe the same "neighbors" broke into your home. Sounds like shady neighbors to me. And do they read your post too? I'd be weary....
Wow, I'm so sorry. Urban chickens are really not that radical an idea... I hope it passes in Providence and you get to have them back. Where I live it's been passed for a while now but one city over is going through the debate right now and I'm so shocked at how the anti-chicken people are reacting!
We have a no chicken law in our city but have a loop hole that lets us have our girls (no roosters). We can have up to 3 pets per household, so we have 3 pet chickens. Code inforcement lets us have our "pet" girls as long as the yard is kept very clean. They are classified as pets, not chickens (go figure that one out!)
That's too bad! I agree with some people, you should have checked city laws first, but come on! Who cheerfully accepts eggs from a neighbor then reports them for having chickens? That's poor neighborly conduct in my opinion. They didn't even politely refuse or mention any discomfort to you at all. You most certainly have a right to be upset about others' boorish behavior.
How positively sad... in so many ways! So sorry.
Oh no! That is so, so sad Christine. =( Hopefully this will change soon. I wish you lots and lots of luck! If anyone can get things moving it's you!
That's awful, Christine! Oh, my heart goes out to you.
Best of luck with the fight. I don't envy the people up against YOU!
My sister lives in Providence now.
It's too bad that your neighbor didn't talk to you first. :( Sad that your chickens have to leave, but it looks like you found them a very good home! (Hopefully the rooster will soon be a friend.)
Sorry to hear about your chickens. I used to live outside of Detroit, they even allow residents to have hens downtown if you want your own fresh eggs. If you have time, I would see about changing the ordinance and getting any homeowner's association to comply. If they start complaining that if they let chickens in, then someone will want a cow - then maybe it's time to move... :-) My husband and I are looking for homes in and outside subs. We hope to find 1 - 2 acres outside an hoa. I hope you can have chickens again one day.