Any of you live in a subdivision?

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georgialee

georgialee

Songster
10 Years
Apr 9, 2009
2,399
17
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Knoxville, TN
I'm so excited to finally have chickens, but hate to say it that I'm starting to get nervous about putting them out in our yard... what will people say??????? I don't normally care about stuff like that, but those that know we have chickens already kind of give us weird looks when we talk about it. We're on .3 of an acre with a house one one side and two empty lots on the other. We're outside of city limits, so I'm allowed to have them. Just today I took some chicks to my son's mother's day out program and one of the ladies there said "Why do you have chickens? Do you live on farm?"... I felt stupid. All I said was no I don't, we're keeping them for fresh eggs. I guess as I have them longer I'll have better responses.

I am extremely proud that my children will have the experience of getting food from our garden and from our chickens. I love the homesteading movement that is slowly coming back. There's just so many people that don't 'get' it and as many probably know most southerners are slow to warm up to new ideas. Ugh.

Sorry for the rambling. I don't really have anyone to talk to about it b/c DH is pretty indifferent about the chickens and if I said anything about being 'nervous' he's tell me to get rid of them.
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We are smack dab in the middle of suburbia and in an "affluent" area to boot. I asked our surrounding neighbors before getting them and everyone was cool with it. We are not allowed to have chickens, so I had to ask first. If anyone complains, we'll have to get rid of them.

Don't be afraid to put them in your yard. They are not very noisy to start out with. Once they start laying, they do make noise and brag about their egg laying, but they are quiet the rest of the day. People here in our area are starting to catch chicken fever and are wanting to get birds of their own.

Good luck!
 
Don't feel sad- Seems to me thats just the way non-animal people are. I never really got along w/people who did not like animals. All of my jobs were animal related. My friends all have something. Even my family. Thats how I got the animal loving genes. As a kid I chose the flock of RIR's and a herd of cattle over the family/friends.. Animals are honest...To me if someone does not like animals something just is not right with them, Call me crazy!!! I also trust my dogs opinion of people. He knows things. Ha!
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Dumbing down your life to meet the low expectations of others helps no one. Put those babies in the yard with a big sign that says "This family eats real brain food".
 
Thank you guys! I know I made the right decision... now to educate people about why.... This forum is truly full of great peope. I appreciate all your encouragement!
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I did live in a subdivision when I got my first chickens last year. Our city lets you have 6 pullets with a 50 ft. distance from any house. We backed up to a drainage creek, with houses on the other side. Neighbors on either side were animal lovers and rescue them, so no probs there. When other people heard me talk about my chickens, they just shook their heads because they knew me. LOL! However my Detroit neighbors chicken-sat for me while we were gone over Christmas and got hooked on the eggs! LOL! She was scared of the chickens, but got over it.

The best thing to do is educate people. I think it's great you took chicks to a Mother's Day Out. Hopefully she was genuinely curious and not being snotty. I get both. Just have your responses ready...

1. We like knowing what's in our eggs.

2. We like knowing that the hens are happy and healthy and not mistreated.

3. Have you ever compared the color and consistency of fresh eggs vs. storebought???

4. Do you know that "fresh" eggs are already almost a month old before they make it to the store shelves???

5. They are great organic bug control/fertilizer!

These were just off the top of my head. There are hundreds more!

Don't be ashamed or embarrassed! Be proud!
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Shelly
 
yeah, first you'll wonder if you should have a chicken - definately no roosters of course, then wonder if 9 hens is too few! and how much problem are the roosters really anyway! and planning to keep all 3 roosters if possible. and aren't ducks cute!

so far neighbors don't have much to complain about anyway. My chickens must sleep in since we keep them up late. hahah. Maybe I'll hear more early morning crowing this summer when the barn is more open. No matter what tho, I feel that if you'd like chickens - its worth the try.
 
I am in an affluent suburban are as well. I have only a few hens, and most of my neighbors are fine with it. However free range eggs are readily available in our market and the extra cost is inconsequential to most of the people that live nearby. Giving free eggs doesn't bribe a soul around my neighborhood. I would be lying if I said all my neighbors thought my chickens are a good idea. They are a well educated but often self- serving group of individuals. Some are kinder than others and some simply hate anyones pets but their own. There are several people that are pretty rabidly opposed to my chickens. In spite of the fact that I am allowed to have them, and some of our local bigwigs do also, I had most of my first group of hens "relocated without my permission" silently and permanently.

The reasons I have been given NOT to have chickens amount to a fear of

1. Smell and disease.
2. Lowering of nearby property values.

I have done everything reasonable to address these concerns. If you look up avian flu you will find many european countries have adopted coop biosecurity standards requiring separation of food poultry from wild birds.(covered runs, footbaths etc.) So when building my coop run setup, I enclosed it to those standards. I can add the footbaths, clothing changes, whatever, if we do have a real outbreak very easily. And if avian flu in chickens becomes a real danger I would certainly humanely euthanize my birds to save the neighborhood chidren in a minute. I can point this out to anyone questioning me.

I also made it a pretty coop. I keep it meticulously clean. There is almost no smell at all from my chickens even if you are standing in their coop. I compost their waste and grow vegetables in a nearby garden. My coop and run are now kept locked.

The result has been that in general the complainers have been viewed as intolerant, money grubbing, whiners by most of the other nearby neighbors. Public opinion has moved slowly into my camp as the birds have, over time, presented no problems. The ones that hate them do quietly gripe occasionally, but I just politely ignore it.

It has been a little bit of a pain but the things I have had to do to make my chickens fit in in suburbia have been just fine. The coop is a nice one, super easy to clean (maybe 30 minutes a week) and a couple of fresh bags of sand to replace the top layer in the run once a year. The chickens themselves are happy and healthy, and the whole setup is working realy well.
 
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