UNION COUNTY, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that a Union County jury was correct in finding that 60 chickens owned by a Union County couple did not qualify as "household pets" under their homeowners association's restrictive guidelines.

The seven-year legal battle between Craig and Mary Schroeder and the Oak Grove Farm Homeowners Association centered on whether the couple's large flock of chickens violated the HOA's rule that prohibits keeping "animals, livestock, or poultry of any kind" except for "household pets" not used commercially.

The Schroeders purchased their home in the Oak Grove Farm subdivision in 2017 and immediately began keeping chickens. When the homeowners association ordered them to remove the chickens in 2020, threatening $100-per-day fines, the coupl

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