Keeping chickens in your backyard is like bringing a little piece of a farm with you without actually having to actually maintain acres of land. One Missouri family thought it would be a nice idea to have their very own coop in their backyard. Unfortunately, the city stepped in and decided to make it a difficult, miserable experience.
Shared on her personal TikTok, Intentionallykelseylyn, Kelsey thought it wasn’t going to be a problem raising some chickens in their backyard. Unfortunately, Kansas City would go above and beyond to try and stop her, taking it all the way to federal court.
According to Kelsey, they went out and got a permit to build their coop. They had a city inspector come in to take a look and verify that everything looked good. Still, that wasn’t enough. She had instead received a letter that she had “10 days” to get rid of them. If they refused to comply, the city said they’d come and remove the birds for them. Kelsey and her family decided not to comply because, as she puts it, “We did everything by the book.” This resulted in Kansas City issuing a “citation and a court date with our city judge.” They ran into some trouble along the way and were found guilty before a judge would even hear their side of the story fairly. They did, however, manage to appeal the case.
Now, it would be seen by the county, and other neighbors would come to their defense. Kelsey’s father is an attorney and decided to represent Kelsey and the other neighbors out of the kindness of his heart. Finally, after two years of helping them fight their case in county court, they thought the case was over. But then they discovered something far worse had happened: Their city filed a claim against them in federal court.
At this point, Kelsey spoke with her neighbors who were also summoned to federal court. It was mandatory they attend mediation, which was a whopping $500 an hour per session. She says this is where most people “give up” when it comes to trial. That money adds up quickly! They decided to keep fighting. In the meantime, she said board members were following them down their own street, keeping tabs on their neighborhood and even going as far as to “stalk” them. At one point, she said a board member almost struck her child on her bicycle!
Kelsey said they’re so blessed and “lucky” because her dad stepped in with his lawyerly skills to help the entire neighborhood. They proceeded with federal mediation, which lasted 9 hours. Doing that math, that’s already $4,500 in court costs! In the end, however, they got a resolution. They settled matters with Kansas City outside of court and got to keep their chickens.
Kelsey shares in the comments more bad news
Although Kelsey ultimately got to keep her chickens, she says it isn’t the end of their troubles and that they lost something along the way. She shared more of their misfortune in the comments.
“What did you lose?” someone asked in the comments. Kelsey shared that her neighbors were “allowed 8 hens” while Kelsey was only “allowed 14.” Even worse, she reveals another family had to “relocate their goats.”
One commenter gave their condolences, saying, “Coming from backyard chickens family I am so glad you all ultimately got to keep your chickens.” Another commenter complained about “government overreach,” and asked, “Don’t they have real issues to deal with?”
Kelsey has shared she’ll be making another part soon, presumably to go into further detail on what else they lost in court.
