Running a-fowl of the law

Lori Hutson never expected to lay an egg with Jackson County officials over the two dozen chickens happily cackling in her backyard.

The 53-year-old White City resident received a warning of violation on Oct. 26, notifying her to remove her poultry or risk getting slapped with a $600 fine on Nov. 26. If she fails to remove the egg-laying hens after the November deadline, the fine jumps to $10,000.

"I'm trying to feed my family — in a failing economy and as a single mother," Hutson said. "We raised them from babies, and we treat them with love."

In a neighborhood where chickens and even rabbits are found in many backyards, Hutson said she is dismayed to be singled out by Jackson County.

The hens would deprive her and her extended family of the two dozen or more eggs laid each day.

For those who live outside the district or other unincorporated areas, county ordinances allow up to 20 chickens for each acre. Hutson lives on a 1-acre parcel on Antelope Road.

But Hutson and many of her neighbors live in the White City Urban Residential District, where you aren't allowed to have cows, horses, alpacas, poultry, ostriches, emus, swine or fur-bearing animals. Jackson County's Land Development Ordinance specifically forbids them, said Ted Zuk, building official with the Development Services Department.

County code enforcement officers don't purposely seek out residences that have farm animals in White City, however.

"Code enforcement is complaint-driven," he said.

Zuk said he didn't know how many violations had been handed out over the years, but he didn't think it was a significant number.

Commissioner C.W. Smith said it was a surprise to him to learn about an outright prohibition on farm animals in White City.

"From a personal standpoint, as long as it's clean and they are not free-ranging, I don't have a problem with it," he said.

Smith said that if residents want to change the ordinance, they should go before the White City Planning Commission.

Ralph Menning, Hutson's brother-in-law who also lives on the property, said he's mystified that chickens aren't allowed.

"I can't understand why you can have chickens in downtown Portland, but not in unincorporated White City," he said. Medford also allows chickens, as long as the area is kept clean and neighbors don't complain about noise.

The 49-year-old, who is on disability for leg, heart and breathing problems, said other neighbors have roosters that crow, but his hens don't bother anybody.

He said he and his stepsister invested $750 into building a chicken coop and installed fencing and a sprinkler system to keep the hens and some ducks, one of which they rescued because it had a broken leg.

"We have a lot of money into these chickens," Menning said.

Hutson said she takes a lot of pride in keeping the pen and henhouse clean.

"It's not like it's trashy," she said. Hutson said she once had four turkeys, but they were butchered last week.

Hutson said she will try to seek help from the American Civil Liberties Union because she thinks the county is infringing on her rights with its ordinance.

She believes a neighbor is mad at them for recently locking the chicken coop because she and her stepbrother noticed someone was pilfering eggs.

Before the lock was put on the henhouse, Hutson, who works in Ashland, said egg production mysteriously dropped during the week, then increased on the weekends when she was home.

Since most of her family is struggling to make ends meet, the eggs have helped out, she said. Hutson has a daughter with four children and a son with two children.

"I guess you can't take care of yourself in a failing economy," she said.