Hi everyone,
I'm looking for advice on how I might be able to keep my roosters after a move. We're moving from a farm in Kansas to a residential/suburban house in Tampa, Florida and there are so many rules!
(I am SO not a city girl.) I've lived on this farm for nearly 20 years and I've been in love with chickens for all of that time (I once had over 100 birds). I started this year with about 80 chickens, and have already rehomed 70 of them. Most of them are my babies I raised from hatching eggs, and it rips my heart out every time I have to give some of them up. 
Tampa city seems to be one of the less-strict places in terms of rules about backyard fowl. For "domestic egg-laying chickens as accessory use" they allow "1 hen/1,000 SF land (rounded down)." For fowl "excluding domestic egg-laying chickens" they allow "Five thousand (5,000) square feet of land for each five (5) fowl or fraction thereof." So, now comes my problem. I have two incredibly sweet, friendly bantam Cochin cockerels who I am even more attached to than any of my other chickens. One of them will come up and ask for attention, and if I hold my arm out he'll fly up and roost on my arm while I pet him. But since they're roosters and we're moving to a residential area with neighbors and rules I'm not allowed to keep them.
There is a nearby-ish dairy/meat/egg farmer who we're planning to buy milk from, and we asked her if she would be willing to take my Cochin boys, so I could at least visit them (and because we're running out of people who are willing to take chickens here in Kansas). She said that she already has too many rooster and even her neighbors complain! And she's a commercial farm!
I turn into such an emotional mess after every time I rehome my babies, I've actually considered trying to get my Cochin boys in as Emotional Support Roosters, but I'm not sure if that would work. Being Cochins they don't really look like the "typical" rooster non-chicken people think of, so I also thought about trying to pass them off as "other fowl" but I seriously doubt that would work either.
I've also considered smuggling them in
, a plan which my mother actually supports. I'm pretty sure her support comes from the fact that one of my banty hens started crowing a couple days ago--most statistics say you are far more likely to get a crowing hen if you don't have roosters, and over the years I've had 4 or 5 crowing hens with roosters! I think at this point my mother has determined I will always have crowing chickens regardless of their sex, so rehoming the boys won't fix any noise issues. 
If I do bring the boys with me (by whatever means), I am planning to set up a crate indoors--garage or my room--for them to sleep in so they won't be waking up the neighbors with a dawn serenade. I currently have 4 roosters, and I've been trying to pay attention to who is crowing so I know how likely they are to be a nuisance. So far the Sumatra and the Old English Game have been crowing their heads off, but the Cochin boys are surprisingly quiet, and I'm hoping that's a sign they'll still be quiet after the other boys leave.
I'm also still trying to find someone in the Tampa area who lives in rooster-friendly zoning who would be willing to take two pet roos in case my boys got reported and needed to be moved out quickly.
Do any of you Florida chickeners have experience with owning residential roosters? Are any of you/do any of you know chicken fanciers who would adopt two pet roosters if they disturb my soon-to-be neighbors? Any other general advice on my rules vs roosters issue?
I'm looking for advice on how I might be able to keep my roosters after a move. We're moving from a farm in Kansas to a residential/suburban house in Tampa, Florida and there are so many rules!
(I am SO not a city girl.) I've lived on this farm for nearly 20 years and I've been in love with chickens for all of that time (I once had over 100 birds). I started this year with about 80 chickens, and have already rehomed 70 of them. Most of them are my babies I raised from hatching eggs, and it rips my heart out every time I have to give some of them up. Tampa city seems to be one of the less-strict places in terms of rules about backyard fowl. For "domestic egg-laying chickens as accessory use" they allow "1 hen/1,000 SF land (rounded down)." For fowl "excluding domestic egg-laying chickens" they allow "Five thousand (5,000) square feet of land for each five (5) fowl or fraction thereof." So, now comes my problem. I have two incredibly sweet, friendly bantam Cochin cockerels who I am even more attached to than any of my other chickens. One of them will come up and ask for attention, and if I hold my arm out he'll fly up and roost on my arm while I pet him. But since they're roosters and we're moving to a residential area with neighbors and rules I'm not allowed to keep them.
There is a nearby-ish dairy/meat/egg farmer who we're planning to buy milk from, and we asked her if she would be willing to take my Cochin boys, so I could at least visit them (and because we're running out of people who are willing to take chickens here in Kansas). She said that she already has too many rooster and even her neighbors complain! And she's a commercial farm!
I turn into such an emotional mess after every time I rehome my babies, I've actually considered trying to get my Cochin boys in as Emotional Support Roosters, but I'm not sure if that would work. Being Cochins they don't really look like the "typical" rooster non-chicken people think of, so I also thought about trying to pass them off as "other fowl" but I seriously doubt that would work either.
I've also considered smuggling them in
, a plan which my mother actually supports. I'm pretty sure her support comes from the fact that one of my banty hens started crowing a couple days ago--most statistics say you are far more likely to get a crowing hen if you don't have roosters, and over the years I've had 4 or 5 crowing hens with roosters! I think at this point my mother has determined I will always have crowing chickens regardless of their sex, so rehoming the boys won't fix any noise issues. If I do bring the boys with me (by whatever means), I am planning to set up a crate indoors--garage or my room--for them to sleep in so they won't be waking up the neighbors with a dawn serenade. I currently have 4 roosters, and I've been trying to pay attention to who is crowing so I know how likely they are to be a nuisance. So far the Sumatra and the Old English Game have been crowing their heads off, but the Cochin boys are surprisingly quiet, and I'm hoping that's a sign they'll still be quiet after the other boys leave.
I'm also still trying to find someone in the Tampa area who lives in rooster-friendly zoning who would be willing to take two pet roos in case my boys got reported and needed to be moved out quickly.Do any of you Florida chickeners have experience with owning residential roosters? Are any of you/do any of you know chicken fanciers who would adopt two pet roosters if they disturb my soon-to-be neighbors? Any other general advice on my rules vs roosters issue?
