SOMERSET CO., MD - Somerset County Commissioners are currently considering adopting new county rules to prevent free-range backyard chickens from causing headaches for neighbors.
County Commissioners have proposed adding backyard birds, non-migratory birds, and fowl to their nuisance ordinance after receiving complaints of poultry reportedly invading yards, tearing up gardens, and close encounters with aggressive roosters.
A public comment hearing was held Tuesday in Princess Anne to discuss the proposed ordinance change. One Crisfield resident outlined the continuous problems she’s had with a neighbor’s flock of 15 birds in her yard, saying the County’s current ordinances give her no recourse.
“My neighbor’s backyard chickens are my backyard chickens,” the woman told County Commissioners today at the 2 p.m. meeting, claiming local law enforcement told her all she could do was trap the chickens and return them to her neighbor.
She also cited the risk of the birds spreading illnesses if left free to roam.
Under the proposed nuisance ordinance, chickens would not be allowed on a residential property without an attempt to confine them to the property with fencing or a coop in unincorporated areas of Somerset. Birds left to roam onto neighboring properties would be deemed a nuisance, and the owners would be given 15 days to bring their property into compliance before the County intervenes.
Currently, uncontrolled weeds, ramshackle structures, sewage overflow, open cesspools, and allowing rodents to overrun a property are all considered nuisances in Somerset County, but unconfined poultry is not.
“Somerset County is in need of an ordinance that protects neighbors like me,” the Crisfield neighbor said.
County Commissioners are accepting further written comment on the proposed ordinance until March 22 at 4:30pm.