When we got the chickens, our town didn't have a bylaw officer. I went on the website and couldn't find a bylaw that said you weren't allowed to have chickens, so we got them. I was in the district office when I got them and was telling the ladies about them. They all thought it was very cool. They knew where I lived.
(So fresh and so young.)
I'm told that the town has a new bylaw officer by a coworker.
"So what?" I casually remark. "We're allowed to have chickens, as long as they aren't at large."
"Not where you live. That's zoned R2 residential."
"But I looked on the website and read the animal bylaws."
"That's just the main ones. The bylaw book is about 800 pages."
"Shoot." But that wasn't really the word I used.
I later was talking to another coworker and mentioned the new bylaw officer. She said he had already been to see her about her horses. I guess her neighbour complained. She then told me that she had become friends with him and his wife. I said that I hoped he never pops by our place.
"He lives in your backyard." She replied.
"You're kidding." I hoped. "Is that who bought the little white house?"
"Yep. He can see right into your yard."
Well, isn't that great? I had better go on the offensive I guess. I sent an email inquiring about the bylaw and mentioned that I was going to have to see about getting the bylaws changed.
Two days later I was approached through the back fence. It went way better than I thought it would. He told me that he was a complaint-driven person and so far hadn't heard anyone complain. He said that as long as he couldn't see them, then he would just assume I had a chicken sounding alarm clock.
So I obscured his view and built a run on the back side of the coop and existing run. They were used to free ranging, so I needed to put them somewhere that they could still move around, but be confined and out of sight.
That kind of blocks a lot. He's much further away than that.
At least they can scratch around while I build them a proper set of runs. I can let them till up the ground while the grass and weeds grow on the other side and then switch them up. It's better than the 6'x6' run they have in the winter. They can get away from each other here and process their thoughts and emotions without those other hens cackling at them.
So what if her egg production is down? The shell quality and protein content are impeccable and she also has to stay on guard against the cats that keep drinking the water.
I guess the long and short of it is that you never know how things will turn out, but it's good to be prepared for the worst.
