Fowl Behavior: Stray chickens popping up around Salisbury neighborhoods

SALISBURY, Md. – If you’re wondering where all the stray chickens have been coming from in, Salisbury, then you’re in the same boat as Mariah Guerra, who, for three weeks, was sharing her yard with not one, but two chickens.

“They were nice, they were friendly chickens. I’d feed them so they could stay around, and they weren’t too bad, they’d just follow me,” said Guerra.

Mariah had a hunch the chickens belonged to a neighbor up the street, because she saw four of them roaming their yard, so she made a post on the social app, Nextdoor. A few weeks later, they were gone.

“I was like, maybe they found them, because it was like slowly one of the chickens left, and then a week later the next one left, and I was like, maybe they picked them up, or maybe someone just took them,” said Mariah.

But the question is, is it illegal to own these birds within city limits? Salisbury Police Captain, Ryan Koerner said not necessarily.

“You’re allowed to own up to six hens, you’re not allowed to own any roosters,” said Capt. Koerner. “The hens must be contained in your own yard; it must be a fenced in yard.”

Violators can be fined $50 for the first offense and $100 for any subsequent offenses. But captain Koerner said as long as you don’t have a surplus of hens, and you contain them at night, you’re in the clear.

“When it comes to owning any kind of pet within the city of Salisbury, my full recommendation is just looking at our ordinances and looking at our city code to make sure you’re in compliance with that,” said Capt. Koerner.