Egg In Our Faces???

It seems that someone has decided our caged, backyard birds is causing them grief. Today we received a letter from the association telling us to remove the girls or they would remove them - The thing is, I read the bylaws of our neighborhood and investigated the Township ordinances before moving forward (after mom presented the fluff-balls to the kids) and found nothing denying us the opportunity. Really it is fresh eggs and a HUGE learning experience.

The section of the neighborhood rules are really to be left to interpretation. It says that homes can only have (2) dogs or cats, or one of each, yet spells out later in the section that “… The term “animal” or “pet” as used in this Section 6 shall not include small domesticated animals which are constantly caged, such as small birds or fish.”

Well our girls are, and will always remain "CAGED DOMESTICATED BIRDS".

Furthermore, we are not maintaining these pets for breeding or commercial purposes, provide appropriate care, and they make little to no noise - they are certainly less noisy than many of the obnoxious neighborhood dogs! And we keep their coop clean, because I don't want nasty smells infiltrating my home and entertainment space.

So now it comes down to this one fact - How much of a fight do I want to pursue? I'm not sure of the legality of someone coming into my yard and removing anything, but that's what we have been warned of. That and of course some monetary penalty against us. Do I want this fight over fresh, abundant eggs? And what kind of learning experience will this end up being for my kids?