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Judge Riled Over Rooster Raid

East Barre, Vermont - October 8, 2009

A backyard chicken farm continues to ruffle feathers in East Barre.

Police raided the property last night and took all but one of Kathy Rubalcaba's roosters, but a judge has now ordered that the birds be returned.

The saga continues and raises more questions about the future of backyard farming in the state.

In this case, the town imposed an order on September 17th, limiting Rubalcaba to a single rooster. She refused to comply, and a court hearing was scheduled for today to resolve the matter, but the town beat the court to the punch.

The selectboard ordered Kathy Rubalcalba to get rid of all but one of the roosters from her backyard farm on Church Street after neighbors started complaining about the noise.

She had more than 30 taken away, but kept five, all but two too young to crow. 

It wasn't enough to satisfy town officials. Police raided the property last night.

"I'm surprised it's blown up to the size it is. It started with just a few chickens and just a big dream," said Rubalcaba

She argues she needs three roosters to maintain her breeding lines, but she's more upset at how the birds were seized. 

Police showed up unannounced, and took the roosters without a warrant. 

"You can have legitimate orders, but when you go on private property to enforce them, you have to have that search warrant," said her attorney Daniel Richardosn.

"This was not a criminal search for incriminating evidence. This was enforcing an order," said Town Manager Carl Rogers. 

Judge Geoffrey Crawford didn't address that issue at Thursday's hearing. But he did order that the birds immediately be returned. At least until Rubalcaba's appeal to can be heard by the town.

"I have 6 things to request. The first is, everyone's going to calm down," said the judge.

Crawford also questioned why the town would take action the night before the court hearing.

"And was there some kind of terrible emergency that it couldn't wait until we could talk about it at 1?" said Judge Crawford.

The town argues it didn't know about the hearing until after the raid.

But this barnyard debate is one that continues to grow, no longer just about birds, but about property rights and due process.

The two sides will now meet to try to resolve the matter.

If the town denies Rubalcaba's request to keep 3 roosters, this dispute will end up back in Superior Court.

This dispute with the town is just about the noise of crowing roosters, not about whether it's okay to have 100 chickens in a small, suburban backyard.

Noise is the only issue here. An issue concerning disposal of manure was addressed by the state earlier this week, but backyard farms are permitted in Vermont, and there are few regulations on the books dictating what a backyard farmer can and cannot do when it comes to their livestock.