Keeping chickens in a small town

[MIchickenlady]

Does anyone here keep chickens in village limits, a small town?
How do you handle curious kids, neighbor pets?
What do you do for smell and fly control?
I would LOVE to hear others experiences of keeping a small flock of chickens living in town!!
Since we set our coop this Fall, and daily I go out and sit with my girls, cars driving by sure do give the looks lol!
I do feel bad for my girls having to put up with the car noise, the Saturday fire station alarm, and the occasional train. What things do my fellow townie chicken lovers deal with??

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I live a small town in NJ. I live on a corner property down the block from the local high school. Thankfully I have a 4 foot chain link perimeter fence around my backyard.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I’ve had parents let their kids climb right up to my fence and I kindly ask them to take their kids down as they trample the plants I have planted. For smell I collect poop everyday. I do a full coop clean out every month. I use a flytrap to reduce flies, but thankfully I have tons of fly predators so not such a problem. People stop and stare at my chickens when they are let out. Stupid person down the block from me got a white ex fighting dog and walked it without a muzzle and the darn thing lunges at the chickens every time. Eventually their white dog bit my other neighbors’ (they also have chickens) dog and it took 3 people to pry it off! Now they muzzle the white dog. I live about 10-15 blocks from the train tracks but I can hear the train clearly at 10 pm. My neighbors are a pain. I rehomed 3 roosters because of them and my flock. They called the health department on me for the crowing when they really didn’t like how I was managing my compost on my property. I’m getting more chicks in March.

 

[MIchickenlady]

I’ve had parents let their kids climb right up to my fence and I kindly ask them to take their kids down as they trample the plants I have planted. For smell I collect poop everyday. I do a full coop clean out every month. I use a flytrap to reduce flies, but thankfully I have tons of fly predators so not such a problem. People stop and stare at my chickens when they are let out. Stupid person down the block from me got a white ex fighting dog and walked it without a muzzle and the darn thing lunges at the chickens every time. Eventually their white dog bit my other neighbors’ (they also have chickens) dog and it took 3 people to pry it off! Now they muzzle the white dog. I live about 10-15 blocks from the train tracks but I can hear the train clearly at 10 pm. My neighbors are a pain. I rehomed 3 roosters because of them and my flock. They called the health department on me for the crowing when they really didn’t like how I was managing my compost on my property. I’m getting more chicks in March.

Well its nice to know Im not the only one keeping chickens in town!
My biggest worries are stray cats, or neighbor dogs getting loose, smell and fly control. We just have hens, but when they startup with the egg song I wonder if neighbors will object. Any day now we should begetting first eggs. I also feel bad they dont have a lot of space to roam, just a 12 x 12 dog pen behind their coop. They have already killed the grass and by Spring Ill hafto figure out what to put in there to keep it from just being dirt/mud. We only have 4 Buff Orpingtons now, I want to get 2 more this Spring.
We can only have chickens in our small town because we live at the edge of village limits, and our neighbor lets us have the coop technically on his property.
I do my chicken chores daily as well, use sand in my coop, and wave at the gawkers who stare at me sitting out with my chickens lol

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I use a Nite Guard to keep nighttime predators away. If you’re allowed to have hens in your town then you have nothing to worry about. You’re not doing anything illegal. I’m not allowed to have cockerels/roosters in my town but I can have as many hens as I want.

 

[PirateGirl]

I live in a small town, on the edge of it. Our lot is approximately 1/3 acre, as are the neighbors' lots. I have a neighbor on 2 sides, open space to the back of the property, street to the front. We live on the plains, there are NO trees, this is not an exaggeration, not a single tree on our property, so everyone can see everything everyone else is doing. Our chicken coop is in the front yard in plain view of everyone. (as is my neighbors project car and extra parts) This was for me a practical choice to do with wind and snow drifts and lighting and safety (my house light nearly reaches the coop and I can see the chickens from my window here). I heard from a neighbor that other neighbors (yes they are gossiping about me apparently) are wondering why my coop is in the front, are wondering if I'm even allowed to have chickens, are wondering what I've been building, etc. People talk. Another neighbor told me she was advised by her realtor to build a privacy fence, so there was not a view of my house from her house, not a view of my chicken coop or raised beds or bicycle or firewood, or any of the other things I view as necessities (we do not have junk in our yard, but there is the aforementioned stuff), that it would help her resale value, make her home more appealing. I cleaned up some of the yard tools, but I get the feeling that my homesteading efforts are not appreciated. I keep things picked up, I keep the chickens fenced, I follow the rules, I do not have more birds than I should, I clean up after my dogs, I keep them on my own property via invisible fence, I try not to give anyone a legitimate reason to complain or to get me in trouble in any way. All of my pets are vaccinated, registered with the town, licensed and accounted for and stay on my own property. I have trained one neighbor's dog to stay out of my yard and are working on new ones that tend to wander unattended on a regular basis. They are not friendly. I love dogs, but I don't love irresponsible pet owners. I haze them. I yell at them. I chase them off. I honk my car horn at them. I do not want to run them over. I do not want an incident. I am social with most of my neighbors whether I actually like them or not because they are my neighbors and we need to live together in harmony, and as I mentioned, everyone can see everything that everyone is doing. What are they going to think next summer when I start construction for ducks?

 

[PirateGirl]

oh, one more good neighbor story... my neighbor was getting a new roof, so I walked over and asked if I can have some old shingles for my chicken coop, he happily obliged, walked them over to my house, gave me a tour of his duck setup, offered me eggs, offered me firewood (we'd never even met!), we offered to trade pet sitting, etc. it was great!

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

oh, one more good neighbor story... my neighbor was getting a new roof, so I walked over and asked if I can have some old shingles for my chicken coop, he happily obliged, walked them over to my house, gave me a tour of his duck setup, offered me eggs, offered me firewood (we'd never even met!), we offered to trade pet sitting, etc. it was great!

Now that’s the kind of neighbor I need living next to me.

 

[KDMdesigns]

Now that’s the kind of neighbor I need living next to me.

Yes all of these shares are great! Always interesting to see the interactions of neighbors when you bring something/start something at home when it doesn't affect them. I've lived in area where there was an awesome amount of distance between houses yet there was always someone trying to be too nosey or controlling of what you can/or can not do on your own property. Haven't encountered that here yet, luckily but anticipate it to happen(just prepare for a plan of action). Good Luck!

 

[PirateGirl]

Yes all of these shares are great! Always interesting to see the interactions of neighbors when you bring something/start something at home when it doesn't affect them. I've lived in area where there was an awesome amount of distance between houses yet there was always someone trying to be too nosey or controlling of what you can/or can not do on your own property. Haven't encountered that here yet, luckily but anticipate it to happen(just prepare for a plan of action). Good Luck!

Yes, anticipate nosy neighbors! Even if they don't say something to you, they may complain to someone. Make sure you are allowed to have chickens where you live, know if you are allowed a rooster or not, know if there is a limit on the number of birds. Also know about building, are you allowed a shed/coop, does it have to be set back from the road or property line, are you allowed a fence, are there restrictions on the type of fence? Follow the rules and no one can complain and you have nothing to worry about.