Board of Health against quarantine (oh, the irony)

[fox623]

We live in a provincial Massachusetts town that boasts a cadre of arduous regulations to gatekeep hobby farming. To get a permit, households must submit GIS plans (from the town’s website, of course), along with a plan of keeping and maintenance. Once those are approved (by the Board of Health, Department of Conservation, and Zoning Board), a plan with the location must be submitted and approved. Once the permit was granted (after a MONTH), I assumed we were fine. Yesterday, the town sent an inspector from the Board of Health to ensure that we put it where we said we would and to see that we are storing the food where we said we would (garage) and disposing of manure where we said we would (compost). The Board of Health inspector saw our quarantining hens in the garage and informed us that we violated the following bylaws: a) "No poultry shall be allowed to forage, stray, or roam unrestricted at the premises or elsewhere; hens must at all times be confined to the coop/henhouse and run"; and b) "Manure shall be stored not less than 50’ from abutting front, side, and rear property lines." My boyfriend is a doctor and explained to the inspector (who has never worked in healthcare) that quarantine doesn't work if the animals are living in the same place and that our new girls will be in the permitted coop as soon as possible. She told us that it was not acceptable because keeping them in our garage violated the rule that "No domestic animal as herein defined shall be housed within any part of a residential dwelling." We also had no idea that we would need to move our compost pile (which is approximately 10 feet from our neighbor's yard and has been since before I met my boyfriend) JUST because it now has chicken manure. It's a $50/day fine per offense.

TLDR: How hard is it to invoke the "Right to Farm" in Massachusetts? Is it OK if our quarantine is curtailed? They've been kept separate since 9/18 (nine days as of today) and all have been vaccinated for Marek's.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Seriously, they have time to check chicken set ups?! Why don't they fight real issues..like restaurants. Smh, I'm sorry for the issues you're dealing with.

 

[samanthaoverton]

This is crazy. As long as their cared for and their area maintained its no one's business.

 

[Vickischics]

That's CRAZY stuff right there.
Unbelievable.

 

[DickMidnight]

it's not crazy.

those are the rules where the OP lives. like them or don't, but you have to follow them if you want to keep chickens in your yard.

it doesn't matter if the inspector has worked in healthcare or not. they are there to make sure the rules are being followed for the privilege of keeping chickens on your property. for all they know, you could be keeping chickens in the garage and selling them. they aren't going to take your word for it.

it seems like there were a few hoops to jump through in order to be able to have a coop on your property, and you navigated those successfully. was this a surprise inspection? or was it scheduled? all you had to do was wait until after the inspection to get your new chickens or hide them better while the inspector was there.

all that being said, i think you'll be fine moving the new birds in with your flock now.

 

[fox623]

I've not wanted to disclose my actual town (internet strangers and all), but between 2018 and 2020, it was in the national news several times for its response to keeping chickens (attachment 1). Part of it may be that my boyfriend can sometimes come across as a smart ass. I wish that I was home to deal with her, but by applying for a permit, we basically gave the town the right to inspect our private property at any time, without prior notice (attachment 2). He works part time on Mondays and Fridays, and I was at work. We're cool with letting the fines rack up until the weekend, but it may be easier to just put them all in the coop together. Which illnesses are still communicable after two weeks?

 

[fox623]

it's not crazy.

those are the rules where the OP lives. like them or don't, but you have to follow them if you want to keep chickens in your yard.

it doesn't matter if the inspector has worked in healthcare or not. they are there to make sure the rules are being followed for the privilege of keeping chickens on your property. for all they know, you could be keeping chickens in the garage and selling them. they aren't going to take your word for it.

it seems like there were a few hoops to jump through in order to be able to have a coop on your property, and you navigated those successfully. was this a surprise inspection? or was it scheduled? all you had to do was wait until after the inspection to get your new chickens or hide them better while the inspector was there.

all that being said, i think you'll be fine moving the new birds in with your flock now.

 

[DickMidnight]

I've not wanted to disclose my actual town (internet strangers and all), but between 2018 and 2020, it was in the national news several times for its response to keeping chickens (attachment 1). Part of it may be that my boyfriend can sometimes come across as a smart ass. I wish that I was home to deal with her, but by applying for a permit, we basically gave the town the right to inspect our private property at any time, without prior notice (attachment 2). He works part time on Mondays and Fridays, and I was at work. We're cool with letting the fines rack up until the weekend, but it may be easier to just put them all in the coop together. Which illnesses are still communicable after two weeks?

i don't disagree that the rules seem a little draconian, especially the right to enter your property at any time, but those are unfortunately the rules.

i'm curious how that works, though, because your permit stated you'd be keeping food in the garage. i wouldn't think that the permit gives them the right to open your garage door and walk in.

it just sucks because you tiptoed through their minefield and were so close to the finish line before you got tripped up.

 

[fox623]

This was a surprise inspection, which, by applying for the permit, we agreed to. I'd imagine that these circumstances are not super common in other parts of the country, or even in MA. To me, the part that was ridiculous was enforcing a law that directly contradicts what is in the best interest of the animals.

We truly thought that we were doing everything by the book (though we admittedly overlooked the manure storage part).

We will move our compost bin closer to the house, but I'd rather not build a cement manure receptacle in the middle of our backyard. I have seen other coops in town that do not have cement pits, but I do not want to throw anyone else under the bus.

 

[DickMidnight]

This was a surprise inspection, which, by applying for the permit, we agreed to.

that part i understand. what i don't get is how they can hope to get inside someone's garage if they aren't home. letting you in my yard is bad enough, but i'm not leaving my garage open so you can snoop around.

and i agree on the compost bin. if i had to build a big cement bin in the middle of my yard, i'd scrap the whole project.

i use a deep litter method in my run. is that an option for you? then you wouldn't need a compost bin at all.