Roaming Chickens.

Passing by the corner of Prospect and The Crescent tonight about 6 pm, on the corner ( the Christmas Tree House) at least two chickens were roaming the front lawn. Is anyone missing some me chickens? 

That is where they live.  They are known for leaving their coop on a regular basis.

once they hit the sidewalks are they free game?

I thought the Maplewood chicken permit specified no free roaming chickens?  They can be allowed in the back yard with supervision, never in the front yard.  Unless they have changed the permits recently 

This is a corner property.  Coop is in the side yard.  Since it is a corner property, there is no fencing.

Maybe there's an invisible fence and the chickens wear collars....

you mean choking the chicken?

joan_crystal said:
This is a corner property.  Coop is in the side yard.  Since it is a corner property, there is no fencing.

 Don't get me started!!

I have a few chickens and actually do think that small flocks should be allowed in suburban back yards.  But free range chickens should not be allowed in suburban areas like Maplewood.  Hopefully this is a case of them escaping and the owners eventually figure out what height enclosure they need to keep the birds contained.  We did free range ours for awhile, but it was mostly supervised.  Mine were able to figure out how to use their water stand as a jump point to get over their fence when we weren't there, so we moved the water stand closer to the fence so they couldn't have the starting distance to fly over it any longer.  In the beginning they will only wander a short distance from their home, staying very near the house and coop, but as they get more comfortable they will eventually start wandering farther away, though the distance is variable depending on the breed.  

Besides pooping everywhere, they will also decimate vegetable and flower gardens looking for green things and bugs to eat.  And they love to scratch up grass to make DIY dirt baths.  The owners are probably okay with this, but their neighbors might not be.  As mine got more comfortable they started venturing further out, about 400+ feet when I finally put a stop to it.  Even though I live in an area that is zoned for agriculture, I didn't think it was fair to my neighbor that my hens took a liking to her backyard.  In Maplewood 400+ feet would put them halfway down the block.

Gee. I always wondered why there was a chicken prohibition in the first place. Probably to discourage immigrants back in the day who did not carry the gravitas of privilege. Funny how times change.