In some areas it is illegal to keep chickens in your backyard. There was a recent news story in Florida about a man named Jim Tucker who had been told he had to get rid of his chickens. He had been fighting it for about a year and had at that point just been given 6 months to resolve some code violations.

(I put the interview as ‘restrictions on keeping chickens’ under the general interest area of my blog a while ago but you can also read about it / view it here: http://www.nwfdailynews.com:80/article/7210/comments)

The main thing I got from the story was that it is possible to appeal an order, and at least buy some more time. He was also planning to ask for a change to a city ordinance that would allow people to keep up to five chickens within the city limits.

Someone who has successfully gone through the process of changing their local laws is Olivia Collins (age 10), together with her parents

(the news story can be read here : http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=132313&ac=PHnws)

Apparently one of the key points in her particular case was asking for the council to ‘allow pet hens’ instead of to ‘allow backyard chickens’ (of course she then had to find ways to show that hens are considered pets by many). Her ‘campaign’ involved collecting signatures, going to and presenting at several council meetings, and she also got the press involved.

If anyone reading this has any experience in getting their local laws changed to allow for chickens to be kept in their backyard, then please feel free to share your story (and any tips for success) as it may help other readers who are currently being restricted by their local laws.