5 acres, can you believe?

[Fredster]

This thread is making me very thankful we moved out of the suburbs and into the country last year. I feel for all of you who have to fight battles and sneak around to do things free people should be able to do.

 

[playmeasong]

Well thanks again for the support, and we are going to go ahead with this. I'm shopping for a coop and the chicks should arrive around May 1st. Our winter temps can get well below freezing so I am trying to decide which kind of shelter would be best (dog house style or chicken hutch and pen from Ware). I"d appreciate any suggestions...
Peace to all, and happy day,
Jen

 

[chicamama]

Yeah, I'm with the "beg for forgiveness" crowd rather than the *asking* neighbors permission, esp. after my last nightmare of a neighbor moved (this woman was so mean she would not even say hi to my toddler who would wave everyday to her). I agree about a Rooster making noise though. I guess ignorance is bliss because we have 1 acre (that borders 250k acres of state park)
and I asked no one.

I'm just a crazy rebel I suppose.

 

[Yikchick]

Wow. I'm glad I live in an agricultural township. I only have 3 acres but we're lined with pine trees on one side and a wonderful quiet farming neighbor on the other. I still don't want roosters just in case I bother someone.

Have you ever looked into getting a spot on your township board or village council or whatever form of government it is? Sounds like they need a voice of reason involved in that legislation.

 

[ridgefire]

I got you topped. In our township you need 20 acres minimum for livestock and of course chickens are listed as livestock, and so are rabbits.

But I can have up to 10 dogs without a kennel license.

I figure when they force the 3 neighbors down the road to remove the junk cars and trash from in front of their homes I will hide my chickens.....Errrrr I mean get rid of my chickens.

 

[boilerjoe_96]

I would be the same rebel as most of you. I was lucky enough to find a reasonably priced cornfield(well the end of it) with 20 acres. So no issues. I would be doing the same as most of you though. A couple chickens doesn't hurt any one... Though even my hens get noisy in the barn sometimes, maybe right after they lay an egg?(not sure).. Hope the girls don't get any of you in trouble...

 

[tazzy]

oh, we live on five very rural country acres and when the original farm was sub-divided into the five-acre parcels, the realtor decided to make a few rules to "keep property value up". The rules include no chickens, no swine and only one outbuilding, etc.

You can have anything else - horses, goats, cows, sheep, etc, etc.

our neighbor bought up almost all of the parcels, so we talked to him and our one other neighbor and they didn't care that we had chickens. so we did it anyway. the rule isn't enforceable unless a disgruntled neighbor takes us to court and no one is going to do that. we live in the countryside in the hills of Kentucky, for goodness' sake! chickens are part of the scenery!

we are surrounded by farms. I hear everyone else's roosters crowing in the mornings. so ours now adds to the mix.

 

[shy]

My Dad lives in California in the suburbs in a regular neighborhood. He is retired and has a few Jungle Fowls in the backyard. I have no clue what the rules are out there but he's had them for years now and no problems. Actually when I go visit, I hear crowing that comes from all around the neighborhood. So it must be up to the neighbors complaining. And apparently he is not the only chicken lover there.

As for me in Kansas, it just depends if you have a HOA that enforces or if you have neighbors that complain about noise or uncleanliness. I don't keep roosters so my neighbors don't seem to mind. And I didn't go ask, I just did. I figured with everyone's dog's barking early in the morning and howling at night, they would not have any issues with my hens.

 

[ruth]

How well do you know and get along with your neighbors? Are they the type to complain? Because if they do and there is an ordinace against it you could be facing some real battles (legal) that you might lose and have to get rid of chickens that you've grown to love. I know it's a stupid law but it is the law and there are those who will complain.

Reason I'm asking is because roosters aren't the only chickens who crow and make noise. My hens can out crow/bawk/bonk the best of roosters and when more than one gets going and they start trying to one-up each other, I have to sometimes step in hen house and yell "Shut Up - we know, we know, you laid an egg - Shut up already".

 

[arwmommy]

I think these laws about chickens were all written when it was seen as "lowly, dirty and poor" to keep chickens. When all people could think was that a coop was built with scraps and looked like it was about to fall down and that they smelled and weren't taken care of. I think when people thought of a "nice" neighborhood, they certainly didn't think about a shack-like coop and chicken poop everywhere.

That being said, I think that the return to backyard chickening is changing a lot of those people's minds! Chicken coops can be wickedly cute! Chickens can be taken care of (even terrifically spoiled) in a way that even our neighbors- -whose house is *25 feet* from our coop-- cannot smell a thing.

So I would go out of your way to make sure that:

- your coop is cute. At least painted or made to look nice in some other way-- it doesn't have to be expensive, but just not junky
- you get only hens
- you choose mellow, quiet breeds (we love cochins!)
- you seriously consider getting bantams (they are 1/4 to 1/3 of the size of standard chickens. This means you can have *more* in the same space

, they are quieter, require less food, do much less damage to landscaping (a REAL plus if you only have a tiny backyard for them to freerange in like us!))
- make sure it doesn't smell. We have had great success using the deep litter method (do a search on this board) and cleaning it out twice a year, and adding DE. Whatever you do, keep the smell down, and the area tidy.
- invite the neighbors over to see the chicks when they are sooooo cute
- give out eggs as much as possible

Good luck!