Backyard chicken coop: the law detail every owner absolutely needs to know

Setting Up Your Backyard Chicken Coop: Legal Basics

If you?re planning to install a small-scale family poultry yard, especially one set up in a so-called ?mobile? (portable) unit, you generally won?t need to file any prior declaration. Why? Because this is considered to fall under leisure activities and is viewed as keeping companion animals. Some subdivision rules do ban coops, but usually only those housing more than 50 birds (or ?animal-equivalents?)?more details on this point below.

By law, ?companion animal? refers to any animal kept or intended to be kept by humans for their enjoyment. And, as another legal principle states, ?Everyone has the right to keep animals under the conditions defined by the law, and to use them as allowed, subject to the rights of others, requirements of public safety and hygiene, and the applicable laws for nature protection.?

For your backyard to qualify as a poultry yard and not an official farm, you?re limited to 50 ?animal-equivalents? over 30 days old. Exceed this, and you?re now officially an ?operation?, requiring stricter regulation and official declaration. When in doubt, check with your local agricultural office.

Since March 2016, in efforts to combat bird flu, you need to apply whatever monitoring and prevention procedures are required by your local council?this applies no matter how many birds you have. Depending on the current alert level in your area, you might have to formally declare your flock at the city hall using the appropriate form. (This has been mandatory since February 24, 2006.)

A special warning: any chicken housing that?s over 54 square feet (5 m?) and higher than about 71 inches (180 cm) inside will require local authority approval and may be subject to a development tax. You can raise poultry at home without being a farmer, as long as it?s for personal use and remains within that ?family poultry? size?meaning, for France, 50 animal-equivalents (again, see below for the math).

How Many Chickens Can I Keep and What Counts as an Animal-Equivalent?

Let?s decode ?animal-equivalents,? because it?s not just a funny bureaucratic word:

• Chickens, hens, guinea fowl, and pheasants each count as 1 animal-equivalent
• Ducks count as 2 animal-equivalents each
• Turkeys and geese are 3 animal-equivalents each
• Fattened waterfowl (on forced feed) are 5 animal-equivalents each
• Pigeons and partridges are 0.25 animal-equivalents each
• Quails count as 0.125 animal-equivalents each

Alongside these limits, a few simple rules apply, involving both sanitary precautions and (often overlooked) noise control.

Sanitary Rules, Neighbors & Noise: Your Responsibilities

If you?re building, extending, or repurposing a structure for raising poultry (or other livestock), you normally need to file a declaration?except for rabbit or poultry buildings with fewer than 50 animals over 30 days old, or those used for strictly family setups.

Aside from local zoning and subdivision rules, any livestock building (except family-type or small rabbit/poultry barns) must be at least 164 feet (50 meters) from any frequently occupied buildings, public spaces, or recreation areas (with exceptions for farm campsites). Commercial-scale poultry and rabbit farms with fewer than 500 animals can?t be in the dense built-up area of urban towns. There?s also special regulation for aviaries, outdoor pens, and runs, but this applies only to really large-scale setups (over 20,000 animal-equivalents?that?s a lot of birds!).

For runs and pens with a density up to 0.75 animal-equivalents per square meter (about 11 square feet per animal):

• Fences for waterfowl and guinea fowl must be at least 164 feet (50 meters) from homes or occupied buildings; for other species, 66 feet (20 meters).
• At least 33 feet (10 meters) away from wells, boreholes, springs, open aqueducts, and any semi-buried or underground water storage used for drinking or irrigation. For waterfowl, keep at least 66 feet (20 meters) away.

On noise: small-scale family coops don?t have a minimum setback, but for more than 10 birds, keep the coop at least 82 feet (25 meters) from houses; if you have over 50, then 164 feet (50 meters) is required. Check your local sanitary rules: article 153 may have further or different info.

The rooster?s crow, the turkey?s gobble, the cluck of hens, and the quacking of ducks?these are all considered normal rural noises. But if that rooster keeps up his act all day and all night, that?s classed as a disturbance. Officially, ?A particular noise must not, due to its duration, repetition, or intensity, disturb the peace or human health, whether it’s in a public or private space, regardless of whether it?s caused by a person, an object, or an animal in their care.?

Health, Hygiene, Manure and Escaped Chickens

You?re required to regularly remove manure to keep the neighbors happy. Stored manure or droppings should not be closer than 115 feet (35 meters) to a home, body of water, well, swimming area, or public road. All animal enclosures?hutches, coops, and pigeon lofts?must be kept clean, well maintained, disinfected, and pest-free as often as needed. Also, you?re responsible for ensuring your animals don?t spread disease or nuisance.

Most regional sanitary regulations also state:

“Managers, owners, users, habitual or occasional occupants of buildings, leisure areas, and any establishment open to the public, cannot claim inconvenience (noise, odors) caused by neighboring breeding operations, as long as those installations are built, maintained, and operated in accordance with health regulations and all related laws.”

If your poultry escapes to a neighbor?s property, they still legally belong to you?even if you can?t see them. But after one month has passed since a declaration to city hall, you lose the right to claim them.

If your birds damage your neighbor?s property, you?re liable for the harm. The neighbor can even kill the chickens, but only on the spot and at the time of the damage, and can?t keep them. If after 24 hours you haven?t picked up your birds, the owner or farmer whose field was invaded must bury them onsite.

If animals without an identifiable owner cause damage, the harmed party can immediately take them to a location designated by the mayor, who will notify the owner if known. If unclaimed and the damage isn?t compensated within eight days, the animals can be sold by court order to cover the loss, with the owner having a short window to contest.

Animals raised for food, fiber, leather or fur, and those kept as companion animals, must be kept healthy and well cared for. Those not kept in buildings must be protected from weather and predators as far as possible, and every measure must be taken to reduce risks to their health.

Fences, pens, and enclosures must prevent escapes and not cause harm to the animals. Any animal that seems ill or injured must be cared for without delay, and a vet should be called if necessary.

source: www.PoulaillerDesign.com