illinois towns that allow backyard chickens

[ChicagoDucks]

Talked with one of the board members who voted no. He stated he voted no due to the fact that there are coyotes living outside of town and "What if a coyote came to town because of the chickens and attacked a child with a candy bar"

Speachless.....

Hmm...

 

[EweSheep]

Coyotes can be wary of people but its a far stretch of imagination for the "invasion of the yotes" coming in town!

 

[Gargoyle]

Talked with one of the board members who voted no. He stated he voted no due to the fact that there are coyotes living outside of town and "What if a coyote came to town because of the chickens and attacked a child with a candy bar"

Speachless.....

Better ban cats and small dogs for the same reason.

Or maybe just ban candy bars.

 

[heathergee]

from what i can tell, i BELIEVE you can have chickens in Antioch, IL. I live here and originally you couldn't in incorporated, or so my mom said. But I looked it up about two weeks ago and they only seem to mention no free range and then they mention specific farms animals you can't have, but chickens are not listed. so i don't know if they changed it or not. but here is all i have found.


8. Animals:
a. To confine or keep confined any cattle or swine within any pen, yard, building or other enclosure so as to be offensive to persons residing in the vicinity and to the annoyance of the same or detrimental to the healthfulness of such vicinity with the exception of the keeping of Vietnamese potbellied pigs in residential areas when the Vietnamese potbellied pigs are kept solely for pet purposes and not for livestock or breeding purposes and are not a nuisance as defined in this subsection.

Only two (2) Vietnamese potbellied pigs shall be allowed per household. This subsection shall be applied to section 6-1-3 of this code. A Vietnamese potbellied pig shall be included in the total number of pets allowed, pursuant to section 6-1-3 of this code. (1976 Code § 93.050; amd. 2003 Code)
b. To permit any domestic fowl to run at large within the village limits.
c. To permit any domestic animal of the species of horse, ***, mule, cattle, sheep, goat or swine to run at large within the village limits.


6-1-4: KEEPING OF OTHER ANIMALS:


A. Cows, Hogs, Sheep And Cattle: The keeping of cows, hogs, sheep and cattle within the village is forbidden, with the exception of the keeping of Vietnamese potbellied pigs as provided in subsection B of this section.

B. Vietnamese Potbellied Pigs: Vietnamese potbellied pigs may be kept in residential areas when the Vietnamese potbellied pigs are kept solely for pet purposes and not for livestock or breeding purposes and do not constitute a nuisance as more fully defined in subsection5-1-5A of this code. Only two (2) Vietnamese potbellied pigs shall be allowed per household. This subsection shall be applied to section6-1-3 of this chapter in that a Vietnamese potbellied pig shall be included in the total number of pets allowed in section 6-1-3 of this chapter. (1976 Code § 91.021)

6-1-7: PROHIBITED ACTS AND CONDITIONS:


A. Disturbing The Peace: It shall be unlawful for any person to own, keep, have in his possession or harbor any dog, domestic or other animal which, by frequent or habitual barking, howling, yelping or by other loud noise, shall cause annoyance of any family or person, or shall disturb the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or place within the village. Such annoyance of any family or person or the disturbance of the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or place within the village by any dog, cat, domestic or other animal is declared to be a public nuisance, and it shall be unlawful for any person to suffer or permit such nuisance to exist. (1976 Code § 91.012)

B. Running At Large: No person who owns, keeps or harbors a dog, cat, domestic animal or other animal shall cause or permit such dog, cat or other domestic animal to run at large at any time during the year in any area in the village other than the private premises of the owner or keeper of such dog, cat or other domestic animal. All dogs, cats, domestic animals or other animals kept within any area of the village shall be confined by means of a secure leash or chain, or confined within a fenced area in such a manner as to prevent the dog, cat, domestic animal or other animal from running at large. Any dog, cat, domestic animal or other animal found running at large in violation hereof, or that shall menace the public welfare is declared to be a public nuisance and shall be apprehended and impounded in the manner provided in this chapter.

also can't slaughter in town, so no slaughtering for meat. haha. looks like no roosters either since they could be "annoyances". bummer. i want to be able to get a rooster so i could hopefully have chicks.

 

[Wonderone]

Education takes time....Thank you for your encouragement. Meeting soon with another board member and continue to reach out to our community.

 

[tinamommy727]

We can have them in Peoria County, not Peoria city though.

 

[tinamommy727]

Okay I did whole lot of research this morning, I live in Peoria County which is apart of Bartonville township and there never was an ordinance made up for this, which means that we can have anything, as long as no one complains, and even then they really can;t do anything about it. I know on the city side of Peoria you can't and in the village of Bartonville itself I think you can't, but outside the village lines you can. So that means that I can have horses, goats, pigs, chickens, roosters, anything I want as long as it is in reason. I am really excited about this, I think I'm going to buy a dairy goat. Wish me luck!

 

[UmDaMan]

I'm In Hickory Hills, Just west of you .. we have a Municipal code against having farm animals, doesn't state chickens, but again farm animals.. here copy =paste of code..
=
14.10 PROHIBITED ANIMALS
It shall be unlawful to keep any pigs, swine, sheep, cattle, horses, goats or similar animals, or any naturally wild animals, except birds or fish, within the city except in horse stables, educational institutions, veterinary hospitals or animal shelters.

But we went ahead with an out of the way stealth coop, and 2 chickens, they just started Laying egg's this week...I figured, i will go with a nuisance approach, if my coop and run don't cause a nuisance, there is no problem.. I mean i read all of the codes and Know of SO Many code infractions...If they busted my balls i could keep there code enforcer officer busy 80 hours a week, Pools alone where they must have no fence shorter than 6' , How many with pools in Hickory don't even have a fence, and others with only 4' fence..and i could go on from there...I'm a good Neighbor, and i respect and get along with all my neighbors.. SO that's how i look at codes..

I also live in Hickory Hills. I read the same thing you did before I got my kids 2 chickens in April of this year. My jerk neighbor just called the police on me today!! They told me I have to get rid of my chickens. I told him that I read the city ordinance and it did not say I could not have chickens. He said he also read it before coming to my house. Under 11.07. So I looked it up again and under Chapter 11 which has a catagory of HEALTH. That is garbage! Why on earth would I look under health to find out if I can have chickens!?!?!? I looked under the catagory 14. DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS! Total garbage man! Our chickens just started laying eggs a week ago !!

11.07 POULTRY OR ANIMALS
It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or raise any cattle, hogs, sheep or poultry, or any animal which can be used for food purposes.

 

[ForClucksSake]

I'm in the process of moving to a new town. One of my top requirements is that the place allow chickens so I can begin my flock. I've been looking into St. Charles, but I'm running into conflicting information.

St. Charles always seems to be cited as one of the places that allows chickens, both here on BYC and in other towns' news articles I've read. But I want to know, where is this information coming from? I'd assumed St. Charles was one of those places that didn't expressly forbid it, but also didn't specifically permit it. But our real estate agent told us that chickens were only allowed on agricultural zoned lots in St. Charles. I also found this in the zoning/use standards section of their ordinances:

http://www.stcharlesil.gov/sites/default/files/codebook/title17chapter20.pdf

17.20.030 Standards for Specific Uses
The following requirements shall apply to the specified uses allowed as permitted or special uses in the zoning districts, in addition to all other applicable provisions of this Title:
(...)
Agriculture
Agriculture is permitted only on lots of ten (10) acres or more, and the following standards shall be met:
1. No livestock or poultry shall be kept.
2. No retail sales of agricultural products shall be conducted on the premises.
3. Agricultural uses are distinct from private horse stables. (See Paragraph M below.)

Now, I didn't think that backyard chickens counted as "agriculture" if you're not selling anything, and I'm a little confused by some of the wording, but it doesn't look hopeful to me. Does anyone have specific information on St. Charles that refutes the above ordinance? Am I reading it wrong? Does anyone here live in St. Charles or know firsthand? Is it different if you're unincorporated or in Campton township?

 

[Gargoyle]

I'm in the process of moving to a new town. One of my top requirements is that the place allow chickens so I can begin my flock. I've been looking into St. Charles, but I'm running into conflicting information.

St. Charles always seems to be cited as one of the places that allows chickens, both here on BYC and in other towns' news articles I've read. But I want to know, where is this information coming from? I'd assumed St. Charles was one of those places that didn't expressly forbid it, but also didn't specifically permit it. But our real estate agent told us that chickens were only allowed on agricultural zoned lots in St. Charles. I also found this in the zoning/use standards section of their ordinances:

http://www.stcharlesil.gov/sites/default/files/codebook/title17chapter20.pdf

17.20.030 Standards for Specific Uses
The following requirements shall apply to the specified uses allowed as permitted or special uses in the zoning districts, in addition to all other applicable provisions of this Title:
(...)
Agriculture
Agriculture is permitted only on lots of ten (10) acres or more, and the following standards shall be met:
1. No livestock or poultry shall be kept.
2. No retail sales of agricultural products shall be conducted on the premises.
3. Agricultural uses are distinct from private horse stables. (See Paragraph M below.)

Now, I didn't think that backyard chickens counted as "agriculture" if you're not selling anything, and I'm a little confused by some of the wording, but it doesn't look hopeful to me. Does anyone have specific information on St. Charles that refutes the above ordinance? Am I reading it wrong? Does anyone here live in St. Charles or know firsthand? Is it different if you're unincorporated or in Campton township?

I'm in unincorporated Kane Co., St. Charles Township, less than 5 acres but zoned AG, so I have no problems. There is a member here,"6chickens in St. Charles", lives right in town, but she hasn't been online in over six months. You might want to stop by Trellis Farm & Garden on Kirk, they should be able to provide some info, since I'm sure many St. Charles chicken keepers shop there.

Batavia passed a pro-chicken ordinance a year and a half or two years ago, so that is another good choice.