Recieved complaints

[Eyren]

Pic is a bit small for my rubbish eyesight, but it looks neat and clean - I'm sure you'll be fine.

BTW, you don't have to let your place get filthy to attract rats - we get them straying over the road from the nearby fields, lured initially by my neighbour's windfall apples, I reckon, until they discovered they could burrow under my rockery and into the run from behind, unnoticed, in the short days of midwinter. I blame the idiots who regularly dump stale bread on the road verges

[bluemoon]

My daughter's neighbour has kept chickens in his back garden for 60 years. He told me that the laws on chicken keeping are a mess because everyone was allowed to keep six hens (no cockerels) during the war, regardless of where they lived. Some councils abolished the bye-law almost as soon as hostilities ceased, - meaning that they have no policy on chickens at all - some simply forgot and it's still in place, and some came down with some quite draconian laws to replace it, completely restricting the keeping of 'livestock'. So as far as I can work out it's a bit of a postcode lottery, as so many things are these days. Thing is, if you live in an area where the wartime rule is still in place I'm not sure your HA can legally stop you keeping them. I think this was what he meant, it is about four years since I had this conversation with him and I think he was only telling me because my daughter had just bought the house and he was worried she might complain - she lives in an area where 6 hens are still 'legal'. It might be worth checking up though exactly on what your council's policy (if they have one) is.

PS, I signed the petition.

PPS. About the rats, we put some poison down and one 'passed away' on our plot. It was a biggish one and the plots are a long way from anything except a park and a golf-course. We've only had the cockerels a fortnight and I very much doubt that there had been time to attract it from any great distance, it must have been around already. Chickens don't 'cause' rats, they just attract the ones that are already there. If you are sensible with feed and take other precautions your garden will probably be less rat infested than those of your neighbours who aren't aware of the local problem.

[poppy_lillysmum]

Hi, just to let you know i have signed your petition. Hope all goes well, as i'm not supposed to have chickens because of an old law, but I do!!
But most of my neighbours are elderly, and they either can't hear them, or tell me it reminds them of their childhood when they had them. good luck

[Eyren]

He told me that the laws on chicken keeping are a mess because everyone was allowed to keep six hens (no cockerels) during the war, regardless of where they lived.

Ah, lovely regulations! Only a decade or two before WWII, covenants were widely put in place to prohibit the keeping of poultry in ordinary gardens, because the government were promoting chicken farms as an ideal new career for demobbed WWI soldiers. A lot of houses still have these covenants, even though the need for them has long since disappeared, and as usual the only people to benefit are the lawyers being paid to remove them

[bluemoon]

Sorry, another thought about the rats. Our council allotments are quite restrictive when it comes to keeping chickens. The rules stretch over several A4 pages and a large proportion of them are about the possibility of rat infestation, and parasite infestation, and its prevention. There's actually nothing much in there about animal welfare really and a lot of it is rather outmoded. I think a lot of local authorities are stuck in the 1950s when it comes to chicken keeping when rats were a big problem due to the way hens were kept commercially. (Basically on bales of straw which were changed once a year, the hens scratched their poos into the straw, feed fell between the cracks and massive populations of rats lived under the straw waiting for the feed to fall through. When the straw had its annual clean out dozens of rats would swarm away from the chicken sheds) It occurs to me that any environmental health department might be stuck in this time warp too, so I'd really emphasise your rat control measures. Show them you're aware and taking responsibility. This is why I keep my chickens on a private site as at least they seem to have moved with the times.

Eyren I've read something about ex-soldiers being encouraged to become poultry farmers before, but I'd forgotten. Didn't it all go horribly wrong for some reason? I seem to recall the government were handing out grants to anyone who would farm chickens, but can't remember any other details.

[sallym]

Signed the petition, good luck for Friday.

[KimT]

I've signed and good luck. I have also added a thread to another chicken forum so folk there can sign too.

[sheena]

Thanks again guys, still not had the call back from the manager of neighbourhood officer... so i'm guessing no news is good news.
A friend of mine who I am so jealous of right now (he's run is 10ft x 10ft) is under the same HA. He had a planning officer around today for something different and asked him about keeping chooks, the reply he got was as long as there was no cock he would be ok.
He's getting confirmation in writing in the next couple of days, apparently.

If he get's he's letter before Friday... he's going to send me a copy to use as a reference. It will be so unfair if I have to get rid of my girl's and they let him have them.
But on a good note, at least i'll still be able to see them... but it won't be everyday as they live nearer to Peterborough which is between 16 to 20 miles away from me.

I just hate the not knowing a definate answer.

And thank you so much for being there for me throughout this and before getting the girl's. Your wealth of knowledge has been wondeful and i am eternally grateful.

[davefromthechipie]

Thanks again guys, still not had the call back from the manager of neighbourhood officer... so i'm guessing no news is good news.
A friend of mine who I am so jealous of right now (he's run is 10ft x 10ft) is under the same HA. He had a planning officer around today for something different and asked him about keeping chooks, the reply he got was as long as there was no cock he would be ok.
He's getting confirmation in writing in the next couple of days, apparently.

If he get's he's letter before Friday... he's going to send me a copy to use as a reference. It will be so unfair if I have to get rid of my girl's and they let him have them.
But on a good note, at least i'll still be able to see them... but it won't be everyday as they live nearer to Peterborough which is between 16 to 20 miles away from me.

I just hate the not knowing a definate answer.

And thank you so much for being there for me throughout this and before getting the girl's. Your wealth of knowledge has been wondeful and i am eternally grateful.

going by all you have put/writen it sounds like its going to work out fine
.keep up the calls and fighting sheena we are all with you on this

[kirsty b]

Hi sheena, your run looks lovely and clean. Looking at the pics of the houses in the bckground, it looks as though you live in the same bit of Huntingdon as my dad. (where I'm from)

Good luck with the fight, but if your friend gets his letter in time, that can only help your case.

[dozey1]

Done Sheeha good luck..

[Hilary B]

If it helps, tell your OH that the "run in the garden" bit could make the difference between keeping them and not - 5ft x 3ft isn't enough for four hens, even if it feels like a palace to ex-batts! EU regulations for free-range poultry require one square metre per hen of run space:



That said, fingers crossed that you get to keep them!

Those are the regulations for selling eggs as 'free range' on a commercial scale. As a 'permanently available' space for hens that are allowed into the garden when supervised, it would be sufficient.

[Pumpkin Becki]

I've just signed too, best of luck for Friday.

[Nicos]

I signed a few days ago...good luck!

[MaureenHall]

How did it go yesterday Sheena? I had everything crossed for you (very difficult going upstairs with legs crossed )