I told you I would keep you updated on my sweet friend that was “flying under the radar” of her HOA rules to have a small flock of chickens. Well, I am sad to say that she is no longer “flying under the radar” She has been found out and reported!
I told her early on that her neighbors will know that she has chickens, the question is weather they will turn her in or not.” Chickens make noise, not the kind of noise that makes you say; ” Darn it, I can’t get back to sleep because of that loud chicken!” It is more like the kind of noise that makes you tilt your head to the side and say; “What on earth is that? That is a strange noise for the neighborhood?” The noise of a chicken is no where near the noise of a dog barking, especially when it barks on and on and on. I rest my case.
We decided that it would be good ,since the neighbors on either side of her would surely hear that she had chickens, to invite them over and introduce the girls. Some people are just concerned about animals outside in the heat of summer, as was the neighbor on one side. After seeing these egg laying divas and assured that they were being well taken care of, she was on board with the presence of my friend’s flock.
However the neighbor on the other side was, well , NOT on board with the whole idea of chickens in the neighborhood! Now this is a new type of thinker to me. When introduced to the, count them, 4 chickens, she said; ” I am very disappointed that you got chickens when you knew it was against the rules. We moved into an neighborhood with a HOA(Home Owners Association) to protect ourselves from people like you who go and get chickens.” You know that sound when a record goes all off and scratches. I wish I could make that sound here! YEARIIEEKE! It never, ever occurred to me that someone would seek out a situation where their rights would be handed over to a board of power hungry citizens that wanted conformity at all costs. Who in their right mind would want that? Apparently, neighbor number 2. Just picked that number, not to be associated with number 2 meaning poop in any way what so ever.
I remember long ago my husband and I bought a house. The agent told us we would now be part of a HOA, to sign here and here and here. We dutifully signed all those places. We learned later that we couldn’t even hang our laundry in our own backyard to dry! It was against the rules!
My farm friend about peed her pants laughing, saying, ” The sight of your husband’s skivvies flapping on the line is just too unsightly for those highfalutin neighbors of yours.” It gets better; the Christmas lights had to be all the same color! White, only white! Green, red and multicolored were just too, well, festive? I told my husband; “This is scaring me, I expect Hitler to come round the corner at any moment yelling Merry Hitlermas! It goes on, with the rocks, you couldn’t landscape with just any rock, no, you had to have a white colored, square approved rock to put around your trees in your front yard. I know you are reading this from different neighborhoods and even countries thinking, “What has happened to the land of the free? This is the land we are all hoping to get a spot in, better life and all that.” Well, if someone tells you your neighborhood has an HOA, don’t walk, run! Find another neighborhood! Rub elbows with people who have chickens and oh the horror, have their underwear flapping in the breeze. Festive lights up ALL year. Yes! Maybe a little festive noise from time to time. That is life people, life being lived, with festive lights above, children playing in sprinklers, Red Rover Come Over games, an impromptu game of baseball, Hop Scotch, bike races and mud pie making! That is life!
Needless to say my husband and I took our “festive light, laundry flapping selves” right out of that neighborhood as fast as we could. So you can see my confusion when I hear of a person who moves into that type of restrictive situation on purpose, to protect themselves from REAL LIFE PEOPLE like me! I just don’t get it. I guess she will never get me and I will never get her. Any hoo, this lover of restricted freedom reported my friend and she has a week to relocate her chickens. Not surprisingly, my friend and her family are looking for a new place to live. Her husband is a veteran of the Navy. Nothing pisses off a person ,that has served his country in WAR, more, than not being able to enjoy the very freedoms he fought for in the first place! I know owning chickens seems like a small thing to some, but if you have put your life in danger for the land of the free and then you get back and can’t do what you want with the property that you own. Well, that chaps a bit, doesn’t it?
So I might be the caretaker of some VERY spoiled chickens for a bit while my friend and her family find a place of freedom where they can raise chickens, veggies(even in their front yard if they need too) Essentially they can sustain themselves and the ones they love with complete freedom to do so. That will feel free and wonderful!
If you want to stay put and fight the good fight here is a link to a lady that did just that thing. Warning; the wheels of justice run SLOWLY. She outlines exactly the steps she took to get backyard chickens allowed in Allen Texas. Thank you, Amber for all the time and effort it took to change this law. Also thank you for sharing the process with us so that others might be inspired to fight the good fight. See her story here;here.
Here’s to freedom in America to raise chickens of all things! Who would have ever thought 4 backyard chickens would be a news worthy subject! But they are! See Amber’s story above and the news interviews she was the subject of. Our ancestors are either laughing hysterically or rolling over in their graves, either way, joke’s on us!
This was shared on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop
I respectfully agree to disagree. When you move into a town or subdivision with an HOA you have agreed to live by the rules. If the HOA says no chickens then you work to have the rules changed, or you move, or you “work within the rules” (more on that later).
What you friend did was decide they didn’t like a rule and so did whatever they wanted. What if we all did that? If I moved to the US from the UK, I couldn’t continue to drive on the left side of the street just because I didn’t like the rules, correct? While I am sure some folks don’t think this is the same thing, it really is just someone doing whatever they think is right.
If you are still reading and not cursing me, the alternative if you can’t move or get the rules changed through normal channels is to “work within the rules”. I did this by reading our city ordinance related to not having chickens. It was very clear, “No chickens, ducks, or guinea fowl”. While it was very clear on what I could have, it left out a “catch-all” clause of “any other domesticated fowl” prohibiting anything else. While my wife nixed the idea of an Ostrich or an Emu, she was not against raising quail. And since it wasn’t against the rules that is exactly what we did. Just for the record she also nixed bison, lamas, and alligators which were also not strictly prohibited. 🙂
I welcome respectful disagreement! I love how you found a “loop hole” in the law so to speak. This is a great thing to suggest to those who cannot raise chickens. I have looked into raising quail but haven’t taken the plunge yet. I will definitely check out your sight. Thanks for adding new insight on the issue. Love the funny at the end! Ha Ha!
Dash
I, too agree with Quail man above – rules are rules (but, then again I was an accountant before I “woke up” from drone life and became a farmer). I, personally don’t like those rules and would never buy in a neighborhood with an HOA. I actually recently moved out of Lucas because the citizens were complaining because the city was not enforcing restrictions and rules for the areas within the city without HOA’s and even felt “slighted” that they had no one to “control” (or govern) them and their rights. Anyway, that was my sign to get out… just that kind of talk/thinking made me nervous since I am a farmer and I do have chickens and other farm animals. Now I live in an area that has no rules outside of a permit for sewer (no other building permits required). I do feel a little “removed” from the people and conveniences of city life but I am only an hour away and can drive back into the city (and do from time to time) easily. So, on another note, I want to commend you for sticking with it, Anne-Marie and “blooming where you are planted”, challenges and all! (as I know you’ve had your own even just with your gardens) : )
Hi Sandra, Glad you stopped by to add insight into the issue. I went to your farm in Lucas and was amazed at the efficient way you pastured your animals. It was nothing short of ingenious! Even though we have little restrictions in our city. I have no doubt that if I put a few chickens out on my lawn to “mow” it, in a 4 x 8 pen, I would get a complaint. In fact I think I might try it, tomorrow. I think someone will feel sorry for those birds doing what they do best and complain but let’s see shall we? Or they might see it as an blight on the landscape. Because after all a lawn mower that runs on gas is soo much more exceptable, right. Oh I hope I don’t open Pandora’s box and then have to try to shove it closed by sitting on it. I will let you know how it goes. I am really quiet and shy, not made to push the envelope, but I can’t help it. The controls are just soo stupid to me!