Raising Chickens In The City - Chicago Police Say NO

[snaps81625]

Sounds like our town!! Some people have them.. but their laws don't actually say you can't keep them! Last year we had a fiasco, where several people were ticketed for having chickens. Several people fought it at court.. but they still have their chickens.

[immrcoolyo]

know what is fked up what is soo wrong with chickens, dogs bark like hell in the backyard and roosters crow in the morning i see no difference, dogs sh1t everywhere chickens do too, people have the right to have dangerous guns and weapons, and we can't even fkin have 4 live chickens in our backyard........ fk the government laws

[immrcoolyo]

ikr fk the city we own our CHOCKENS >:D

[bryncomeaux]

you shold go to the library and ask the librarian to show you the law you wont find a better wat to get to an actual law local state or federal.

[GoingOrganic1]

Great video! I am fighting for backyard chickens!  Watch my video!

[woodturningjohn]

It is stupid, my city allows pigeons but not chickens. I was told they did not have the man power or money to send people out to inspect chicken coops to give me a permit however if I wanted pigeons someone could come out and give me a permit, why is it that when you work for a government group it is okay for you to smoke crack at work??

[TaneyCoChCrested]

considered non pets? mine are egg laying pets period

[CowsAndCrows]

kinda sad and funny at the same time, and about increasing the rat population, I won chickens myself as long as there is no food from the chickens rotting away outside the pen i dont see the problem, pigeons in towns are the problem, not organic chickens on your own property.

[LadyLeasure4]

Google Madcity chickens. There is a group that helps people get information on how to raise chickens in the city. 

[FlowingDepths]

LOL! Who says that chickens are non-pet animals? That's ridiculous BS...

[hippytreehugger4ever]

The city council's excuse in Bellevue, NE to not allow chickens is that hens are "vicious".  Pffft, lol. I live in a small town in central Nebraska (pop. 3,000) and have 4 hens and a rooster and nobody has a problem with it. Of course it's a running joke in town that the rooster likes to snuggle on my lap :-p

[FluffyBalls009]

It is actauly legal to own chickens in Chicago as long as there pets and not to be slaughtered.

[spartanprepper]

btw how did you record your calls? i thought in chicago it is illegal to film or record without both sides' knowledge? help me out here. i would like to start raising chickens

[spartanprepper]

transfered 100 goddam times ... bureaucracy is so efficient. i'd prefer if people just say "i don't know" rather than give you useless bull

[nicktallen]

Did you get their permission to record their voices? It's a felony if you didn't.

Crazy, but Illinois law makes it so. If you didn't get their permission, I'd remove this video, even though it's pretty funny.

IANAL, but I've seen the ordinance.

[nicholasbhicks]

if theres no written law against it its legal at the beach my parents go to they kinda forgot to make if officialy illegal to go topless and the police had a hell of a time trying to force weman to put theyre tops on because they werent actualy breaking any law

[nerthania]

This is a great idea! It would probably be better if it were a hidden video; still...

[truemirror]

I want to raise two chicks or ducks, for the eggs and garden pests and manure, but I don't want to be harassed by my little back woods red neck town, if you even ask about anything, than the police are at your property trying to find something to harass you about. I even got a warning for parking a little slanted ON my property right after I asked for them to maintain the city owned alley to my property.

[theseshoozrule]

That is so awesome. This attorney is like "these people are dumb fucks".

[ScopedOUT2]

Chadhols.... don't keep chickens, they're criminals.

LOL

[playfair1965]

YEAAAA!!!!! Chicken away 8-)

[langevoort]

What is funny is I spoke to a lady from my city office about this same thing and she didn't say it wasn't allowed, but she said someone in my vicinity had some and that they had to get rid of them because the neighbors said they were noisey and the smell was bad....so, subsequently they couldn't enjoy their yard. So the complaint was what made them have to get rid of them - although I feel there is no ordinance....I just was being told there are "rules" to try to keep me from trying it.

[SrgFuery]

This video is win, it also shows the major flaws in our "amazing" government bureaucracy....xD

[trbdave4850]

wow lol the lady in the second call is not very bright. nice vid

[BarmaidAz]

But the round robin is funny and not surprising.

[BarmaidAz]

I don't think the city workers sounded suspicious or a conspiracy, or trying to avoid any issue - that seems a little paranoid to me. I think, like most city workers, they don't have a clue one way or the other, it's probably not come up for them and they have no answers because to them "this is just a job" - they're not in it for love of city,

[smkuhner]

hahaha thats awesome!

[gigglingwizard]

We had the opposite problem in a township near Columbus, Ohio. Everyone told us it was okay. Then two years after I'm in business selling chicken and eggs at the farmers markets, a zoning guy comes out and shows me an ordinance prohibiting animal agriculture on lots less than five acres and ALL agriculture (other than a vegetable garden attached to a residence) on less than one acre.

[Wisegeorge]

No one is ever willing to say: "I don't know." Instead they make stuff up. Power to the chickens!

[picatsoforfma]

LOL. Austin embraces our backyard flocks :)

[pgm98387]

You can have dogs cats cockatiels, parrots, finches, hire a lawyer take it to court and fight the law...dam stupid law!

[RaitzeR1]

awesome :D, love your youtube vids too ;)!

[Sabei0990]

I'm going to do this for Cleveland, Ohio.

[drewby3440]

Hi there, I live in Rocky River and called the animal warden about this. You should have heard the phone call. It was pretty funny.

[Sabei0990]

I tried this and there were no answers. They sent me to at least 10 different people.

[jackshenhouse]

'Seize the chickens', hahaha! The po-po want to steal chickens?!

Chickens sometimes fall under the 'noise' ordinances and usually they say a few hens are OK, but roosters are not, due to the crowing. It was like a legion of zombies until you got to the attorney!

Most cities simply cannot fathom chickens as pets and refuse to make the change in their thinking. These days, keeping a few hens and a garden goes a long way towards feeding your family!

[simplespirit101]

NOW is the time for civil disobedience. It's your property, you pay the mortgage and the taxes... do what you want to live in harmony with Mother Nature, not The Man.

[stainman7]

what a waist of the cpd and your own time... im sure they have better things they sould be doing besides answering your bs call!

[gg320]

I am not an expert regarding poultry in Chicago but I can tell you that recording a conversation without the knowledge of the other party is a crime in the majority of states.

Other than the police call which they usually advise that the call is being recorded, therefore both parties are aware, anything else is a violation of the law.

[soffitboy]

Nice!. So by your standards, recording people's lies is a bigger crime than providing false information to a citizen?

[phactreerat]

Where I live it's ok to have scaredy cats, but not chickens. lol

[mjtracy]

It's better to ask forgiveness than permission.

[TreyNitrotoluene]

If you're not sarcastic and antagonistic then you can easily explain that they are pets. geeze.

[findingcontentment]

It's all in the way the ordinances are interpreted. Our city ordinances (not Chicago) say we can't have chickens. But the code enforcement officer I spoke to said that he considered chickens to be birds, not livestock. Who knows how another one of the code enforcment officers would interpret it.

[findingcontentment]

Sorry, that should have read that the city ordinances say we can't have "livestock," not chickens. Chickens are not specifically mentioned.

[TheVampirella]

It only took you a few days to get an answer. I have placed calls to my city offices for over a month and still don't know if it is legal or not. I no longer care, come Spring I am getting a few chickens.

[chadhols]

yep i have chickens (see my other videos) and have received no harassment. The only thing is, I live in a primarily mexican neighborhood so a lot of people have chickens here (seems like almost one person on each block) so the neighbors don't care. But I'd say as long as you keep the poop cleaned up and don't get a rooster (noisy) you'll be fine.

[kkrylowski]

hey man i live in chicago too and have been considering raising chickens as well and knew that i might have to duke it out with the city to do this. have you actually got any chikens yet and if so have you been harassed by the city.

[aovsi]

Who the hell raises chickens in the middle of the city? If you have time or space to raise chickens in the city, something is wrong with you.

[deanall]

The world is to the bold.

Just get hens, no rooster, no noise, no problem.

This poor guy is a perfect example of what's wrong with our country, he's too concerned about what people who have nothing to do with his life care or say or legislate regarding his life.

Get some hens and eat some outstanding eggs brother.

[gorica82]

how can they say thay are not pets. i had chickens my whole life and they make great pets. You see nobady knows nothing. one thing i dont understand it is ok to keep exotic pets but a chicken is not ok???? and man i love your video. .....

[firefalldown27]

Haha, this is great. No one knows anything. Typical.

[stillrepenting]

Good thing my sister and brother do not live in chi-town! They have a one legged hen that wears a diaper and lives in their house! the hen's name is Fanny and actually lays eggs in her diaper about one a day. On days that it is not raining hard, she spends most of her time outdoors sans diaper, but they bring her in at night so wild critters won't get her. Any way you cut this she is a PET! Howbeit a very strange and odd pet to have, but she is still a pet!

[imadvi82]

You can't raise chickens in the city of Chicago. I know, my neighbor had a few. Yes, she WAS a hillbilly. Had the caller asked about a city ordinance regarding LIVESTOCK, he would have been told you can not have cows, sheep, chickens, emu, ducks, or wombats. Government incompentence at its finest...Thanks for posting.

[mace1337]

So did you actually raise chickens after this or what?

[YoeriYoeri]

lol, fascinating!

[codecxo]

You make too many assumptions in this, but good job nonetheless. Raising layers in your own yard should be legal.

[Rookiewill]

lol, this was really fun to watch!

nice one

[strathmeyer]

So did you call everyone back and tell them about your chickens?

[penguinchicky]

Chickens ARE pets! We've had them and they become very friendly (sit on your lap etc). We even had one that would walk though the kitchen, down the hall and into the TV room to find us.

[bums4u]

311 Is NOT the police you dumb ass.Live Chickens are health hazards.

[vicki822]

Dude got d***ed over by Chicago police; thank God he found someone who knew what she was talking about.

[700eyesonly007]

It's unbelievable they sent you a fax about pigeons-does any level of gov know the law?

[700eyesonly007]

I want to raise chickens in my large (+100,000ppl)city in NY too, the information regarding the laws is about impossible to find out, so far what I found out (not from a legal source) is that I can have 3 chickens but no roosters-but what about baby chicks, are they included. I agree with the person who said "they don't want average joe to be able to raise his own food". Yep and I agree always avoid incriminating yourself-we all have a right not to answer any questions!

[emforty2]

because they don't want you to raise your own food[eggs]

business wants your business and govt. wants the taxes !!

its about the money !!

forget the avian flu thats caused by caged chickens that are stressed and prone to desease....free range are healthier

next will be a ban on growing your own food !!

[Teatime4life]

What about keeping chickens in Mo.

[crock703]

some cities like D.C. prohibit chickens as a bird flu precaution

[loopofpoop]

ordinance says yes, go google chicken laws

[tarazod]

Excellent! Would you consider adding this to the youtube chicken group:

youtube(dot)com/group/madcityc­hickens

...and may the Mad City Chicken be with you!

[KARStarla]

lol, no ordinance

Their poops are smaller then dogs and cats, whats the problem right? They dont bite, they yeild food, they dont bark lol

[chadhols]

yes I got the chickens, had them for a year now and they survived the winter just fine. I still get 1 egg per day per chicken, total of 4 eggs per day. The neighborhood kids love to go in the coop and search for eggs

[MJKwote]

This is great they are trying to screw you man... Get your damn chickens and screw them man... haha Did you get the chickens?

[FatherRafael666]

Dude the bitch said at 6;54 Valarie is not in the office today if thats what you need it. Then at 7;53 she says hold on just a second. Gets back on the line at 8;03 and says alright she actualy directed me to..to give the ext to the law department. She was lying about the bitch valerie.

TFHS

[mrindigo]

Holy crap! You just saved us what sounds like days and days of frustration! Thanks for putting these phone calls up. If an ordinance were to be passed in future, hen owners could get it overturned. It's a safe/cruelty-free means of food. Maybe a chicken owners council of Chicago is in order.=)'

[beaelliott]

Ridiculous! Being forced then to eat only battery cage eggs.... I plan to build my own coop avoiding the cruelties of factory farm eggs. I'd fight it tooth and nail!

[WCSLdglas]

of course you can't raise chickens in a city. move to the rural areas!

[Weaseldog2001]

Of course you can!

I called my city, Irving, Texas... They said, "In recognition of changing demographics, we no longer have restrictions on livestock."

[HTCSWEOD]

My friend, there are even roof top coops in Brooklyn, NY., San Diego County has more than 60,000 registered back yard chicken flocks. You needn't be in the country to properly raise chickens. Check out GardenGirltv(dot)com and see poultry in Boston. Where there are people, it's likely, there will be chickens also {">

[WCSLdglas]

cities are dysfunctional. get out of them and move to the country.

[wakunahum]

If it's not against the law, you can.

Let's not act like the cats or squirrels running around a neighborhood are somehow "cleaner" than a chicken that's taken care of.

[HTCSWEOD]

Where a current ordinence does not exist, it's important to get busy proposing one. Most cities which allow chickens, limit them to hens (noise neusance regarding roosters) and there should be a premises registration requirement. This would be an opportunity to impose minimum space and habitability requirements in the interest of chicken well being. It could be argued that bantams would fall under pet classification.

[Weaseldog2001]

Because pets are little?

I think I understand your point, but wouldn't existing animal cruelty laws suffice?

Legislating every detail is one of the slippery slopes that have all but eliminated the small farmer and gave rise to factory farming.

[jmayon]

Yeah, let's enact more laws to further limit freedom and confuse city workers even more.

It's people like you that arer ruining civilization.

[IBMeddling]

People like to make up stuff just to keep things moving along.

[slmdj]

I live in Louisville Ky. Our ordinance says under a half acre of land you can have up to 5 noncrowing birds, over a half acre you can have as many of either as you want. Are you getting eggs yet? It only took my reds 5 months to lay but my barred rock took 6 and a half.

[onceuponatube]

I believe it is this week that the city councle are voting on a chicken ordinance, lead by a woman who says that keeping chickens increases the rat population. The result of the ordinance would result in a $1000.00 dollars a day. ... so my neighbor told me yesterday. I will have to look into it futher.

[chadhols]

Yea I'd love to know more about this... especially cause that would be $4000/day for me! Luckily I have recording of the city's lawyers telling me its ok *smile*

[onceuponatube]

I've had 3 chickens a year or two ago. and my wife found one on the highway here, so we now have another chicken. Its been a living hell thinking the city officials were going to come and seize my chickens. Thanks to your excelent video, I can now can live in peace. Thanks for doing the leg work with the various city agencies.

[chadhols]

are you in the chicago area?

[onceuponatube]

Yes, around Irving park Rd. and Pulaski Ave.

[Tarodin1980]

A lot of local city governments here in Canada post all their by-laws ( a.k.a. "ordinances") on their websites. So if you can wade through the legalese language, you can find out the rules for your area.

[tarazod]

Well done! This is a great piece. The Mad City Chicken would be proud of your fine detective work.

[teonancatl]

This stuff is crazy i live in Sydney, Australia was a bit drunk, rang my local council and got the answer straight away. They said i could have as many chickens as i wanted but i was not to have any roosters. I had to provide shelter for my chooks and if i was planning on building a shelter i needed to seek their permission. We modded an existing shed had 4 chooks delivered 3 days later.

[chadhols]

yea i wish it was that simple here! but the straight answer is, in Chicago, you can have as many chickens or roosters as you want!