Poultry In Numbers
Farms Unite…

Let our voices be heard

The Elephant In The room

Here’s the truth. A lot of farm enthusiasts may live in an area where some agricultural activities are prohibited; understandably so. For example, cows and horses should have clear distinctions of the acceptable space and shelter for them. 

But most of us live in clear areas where we are not allowed to have chickens or there are STRICT rules around chickens. 

What’s happened in the poultry industry is people do one of the following:
1. Ignore it. Or avoid the verification.

2. Comply partially (I don’t even know if partially is a thing - but let’s say ‘1 more rooster doesn’t hurt’…. And that’s partial!)

3. Comply and live vicariously through IG and FB social feeds, and wait for our dreams to come true - aka move to the country. 

The fact is, an alarming number of the poultry community today is living in areas where they are likely considered NON-COMPLIANT. And we just wait and hope nobody will complain! We will share an illustration of what happens when somebody complains and your ordinance prohibits the number of chickens you have. We’ll introduce Amanda. She's a real person (but it’s not her real name). And we are angered, frustrated to see her going through some hellish experience. It sometimes just starts with an upset neighbor, and sometimes they can be pretty unreasonable.

Amanda’s Story

Amanda is one of the most amazing people we’ve encountered and we found each other in lieu of making a difference in farming communities. This woman has no selfish bone in her body, she WILL give you the shirt off her back if it’s the last thing she has… we can write a book about the things we’ve seen that demonstrates she is generous and caring beyond the norm. And we feel blessed and inspired to work with her to support improving the farming communities.

Amanda is what we would consider a true chicken whisperer, poultry aficionado, and “for the community” individual. Amanda breeds a number of rare and or heritage breeds, and her care for her babies is truly 2nd to none. She advocates organic and high quality nutrition and can heal and nurse so many ailments and issues, that people have flocked to her for support. She helps people out on these farm calls. When she sees people struggling, she goes out of her way to help. There are special people like Amanda who expand that capacity and make it happen. The examples of her generosity, her impact, and genuine kindness would be a volume of books. Her strength is undeniable, her determination unstoppable, and her heart full and pure. 

In our viewpoint - you power up people like this. Because their positivity and ability to impact is 100 folds. This is Amanda- Small farmer, doing her best, helping everyone, a true superwoman. 

Recently she’s had to deal with one heck of a neighbor. The one that we have nightmares about who would just make your life a living hell because that’s in the fiber of their being. She’s called the county on Amanda MULTIPLE times. Many attempts, with with an empty pistol. However, recently she found one that would finally devastate Amanda and it’s related to a San Diego rooster ordinance. Finally they found something she’s not in compliance with, and the county is constantly monitoring her in regards to her roosters (that have been there for years) and the amount of chickens (which is currently less than 30). And told her, we will check on you daily. 

These ordinances had a purpose; they were created to stop cockfighting rings and the abuse they cause to fighting cocks. That is clearly not the case with Amanda, so why are these ordinances being strictly enforced in a safe breeding program that has been visited by animal control officers and they have given the thumbs up to their farm and care?

In summary, without getting into all the details (and by the way, she is NOT a hoarder by any means) she is responsible and keeps a good ratio of her animals. This person is a small/urban farm operator, with heritage/rare breeds, who is a significant part of the poultry community, who helps where ever she is needed. This person coordinates and advocates RESCUE SUPPORT of livestock and is the absolute definition of “community”.  

The details of this vicious person aren't outlined here. But Amanda has had these chickens for over 4 years. This occurrence happened because this person decided to be vile. This person wasn’t open to a compromise, any communication, and wanted to set it clear she wanted to see the animals out! Sometimes you’re the unlucky one and you get the crazy neighbor like this. This is happening to a good person. One who cares for her animals; one who does her research a lot. Unfortunately, she is dealing with 2 real issues - 1. a neighbor who is complaining relentlessly and 2. an ordinance that has changed since she last knew.

She was advised by Animal Control - they can come at anytime. It has put Amanda through a great deal of stress and to fight this situation, she’s starting to run into financial hardship she did not expect to make many trips to the courthouse, to her attorney, to find a suitable home, to create temporary homes for her roosters.

This limitation on good poultry owners who are critical to our community needs to have a limit. We understand hoarders and cockfighting, etc. This person is not this… and MANY poultry owners we know have chickens that live better than some people! But they too may also have questionable compliance based on their town. So this isn’t really just about Amanda… this is a story about what’s happening right now with many other people.

We would like to bet the majority of the poultry community is not in compliance with the most recent code. This is the big elephant in the room, and we need to raise this awareness and find a solution that can work for both sides. Instead of keeping this problem at bay.

Why This Is Important

For some of us, this is not a hobby. This is a life; this is their living. Amanda supplements her income from poultry and farming practices. She donates her heritage breeds of poultry and holland lops to local 4h children and other school projects. She also donates up to 5 dozen eggs to local teachers looking to hatch eggs, including her daughter’s preschool to supplement their meal programs.  Our country needs more small and urban farmers in ALL regions. And people like Amanda are the foundation of what allows our communities to grow - giving all they have… to what? Most times just to have the love of farming and sharing. It’s the heart of farming. And this woman by all means represents this. 

Amanda can use your support… many of you know her real name.
This can happen to any one of us. And we can’t just wait for the problems to arise. We need to be protected ahead of time. The disruption to life and peace is mind boggling as you see this unfold and happening to someone else. Imagine this happening to you? Like I mentioned, the incidents are straight from a movie and I want to focus instead on solutions… not anger. 
I believe with communication, with NUMBERS, and with a solution - we can make things happen. 
We are working on some key next steps to help out someone like Amanda. We are at the very start and beginning of addressing this, so we don’t have all the answers. We are reaching out to you because it takes a community to MOVE a community in the right direction. We would love your ideas, your input, and your support! We would love to know if you are impacted or could be impacted by ordinance issues. 


We want to bring the community together! 

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

  • Step 1 - Identifying our supporters location - this is key, here's why:

    After Amanda’s story, we started hearing from everyone… We expected this.
    Because this is such a local focused solution - we must get organized to know who’s where?

    We have a number of tasks that we can divvy up between volunteers.

  • Step 2 - General Support

    Connect with us if you have the following resources:

    • Availability and interest to help.

    • Can recommend influential people that can help.

    • Do you know anyone in the media that can help?

    • Do you know an attorney that can provide legal advice - pro-bono, we would really appreciate this.

  • Step 3 - Local Support Tasks

    You’re available to be a SWAT TEAM supporter should any of our members get in a pickle or BETTER yet before our Poultry Peeps get in a pickle. If you can help with any of these - super!

    • Help us get petitions signed in neighborhoods.

    • Foster temporarily.

    • Help make rooster boxes or safe crow collars.

  • Step 4 - We'll be in touch shortly!

    We will organize the response. We’ll prioritize the areas in need of a PIN group faster, but we will respond back to each of you. Thank you so much!