West Jordan, UT 84081 please comfort me!!

I don't know what got into me. I recently, 4 days ago, bought 5 egg layer chicks from Cal Ranch on 7800 South after tasted half a dozens fresh eggs from a friend. Even though West Jordan City allows 5 hens max, I'm still extremely nervous about having chickens in my backyard. I don't have one of those ginormous yard like most of BYC members, I only have 8,000 square footage lot so my main concern is the noise level, I don't want any problems with neighbors but it was a little too late, I bought the chickens!! Please help me, if you have similar lot size I would love to come over and check out the coop. Thank you in advance.

Welcome to BYC!

If you're concerned that your neighbors will complain about the chickens, once they start laying give them a dozen eggs now & again...that may help. Just keep the chickens environment clean to keep odors down, keep them confined to your property and don't have roosters and you should be fine. You may even find the neighbors will enjoy your chickens, they are a lot of fun to watch.

Good luck with your new flock and if you have questions, feel free to ask.

Congrats on your purchase of your 5 little ladies! We live in Salt Lake City and are on a lot of about 10,000 sq ft and have 5 hens, which we purchased as chicks last April. This is also our first flock. Ours are really not that noisy and we've never had any issues with neighbors. Throughout the day, they will make some noise at random times, but it's really not much. Sometimes after laying an egg, ours will make it known and sing their egg song, or ours will make noise when they see a cat lurking on the other side of the fence, but that's really it. There are a few others on our block who have chickens also and some of them are on smaller lots than ours. Everyone seems to be pretty cool with it. Also, as NorthFLChick mentioned, give your neighbors some eggs every now and then, which our neighbors seem to enjoy. I think you made a wise decision in getting them and will love having chickens. We are so happy we made the decision to get ours and love it even more than we thought. They are extremely entertaining to watch and fun to hang out with. Ours are like members of the family now.

Thank you NorthFLChick. I will definitely surrender some of the eggs to the neighbors. I'm more concer about the noises than anything else since we live in a very quiet neighborhood. I guess I will have to wait and see how much noises they make once they're older.

Thanks TarahHalin. I'm feeling a lot better about the lot size, yes I will definitely give the neighbors some eggs just for being a good sport. Like I told NorthFLChick I'm more concern about the noises than anything else. I will always keep the coop clean, at least once a week. Ok back to the noise, do they make much noise at all during the night?

Hens aren't usually too much trouble. We kept 8 hens in Clinton for several years and none of the neighbors had any issues. They are definitely much quieter than most neighborhood dogs, that's for sure! We did have two gals that ended up being not gals at all, we just posted the boys on KSL and they were picked up within hours, no neighbors offended.
Buyer's remorse sucks, but I'm sure talking to your neighbors would be a great step to alleviating your concerns. One great thing you have going for you is that it's Utah, disaster preparedness is a thing there. So, you never know. You could actually introduce the idea to some of your neighbor folk who never really thought about fresh eggs as a sustainability item.



Welcome to the flock!

The only time hens will make noise after sundown is if a predator gets in the coop. (Usually) hens don't crow. When the sun goes down, they go to bed; when the sun comes up, the hens get up and start their day!

Thank you Brady I will try talking to my neighbors about the chickens since they heard my hammer banging away while I was trying my best to built a nice coop for them. Good idea on the emergency preps! I hope the whole neighborhood can see the benefit of owning chickens and also since not everyone desiring farm animals can afford a ranch. Once again thank you.

Thanks Enola. I was thinking to include a glass window for the coop, would that be a bad idea since I don't want them up early in the morning. I like sleeping in on the weekend and also don't want them to disturbed the neighbors with any noise.

One of the most important things to remember when building a coop is ventilation. Even in the coldest parts of the world proper ventilation prevents frost bite and respiratory infections.

The hens will be up with the sun unless you can figure out a way to make it pitch black in the hen house.

I have 17 hens and two roosters about 100 feet from my bedroom and I don't even hear the roosters crowing in the morning. How far are your hens from your nearest neighbor?