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Ariel Moronta was in Tractor Supply Co. in Stony Point this spring when the sound of peeping lured him over to the rural lifestyle chain’s tubs of fluffy, yellow chicks.
“They were so small, and cute,” he said, laughing, adding: “Then they grow up, and you have to clean up after them.”
Moronta is now the proud papa of several nearly grown chickens, and six months or so from now, he should be getting eggs from them.
Haverstraw recently passed a local law allowing residents to raise the feathered fowls and Moronta has applied for the village’s very first permit.
Village building inspector Ruben Berrios said Monday that the permit process is so new that he is still working out the logistics, such as forms.
But, Berrios said, he has inspected Moronta’s set-up and it meets all the requirements and he should be getting his permit shortly.
Among them are that the chicken coop be at least 5 feet from the property line and 25 feet from the residence, Berrios said.
The limit is five chickens, which aren't allowed to roam about the neighborhood; they have to be kept in a penned-in area. Their coop has to be cleaned, free of vermin, and be sturdy enough to keep predators at bay.
There is also an annual fee of $25, Berrios said.
But, most importantly of all, for the neighborhood’s peace and quiet, roosters -- and their crowing -- are banned.
Why, besides the fact that they were cute, did Moronta decide to raise chickens in his backyard?
“Basically, I wanted to get eggs, and I wanted to know where they were coming from,” he said.
His neighbors, Moronta added, are "pretty cool with it."
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