Colorado

[Minchi]

Just sharing my excitement...my pullets are arriving today in Kiowa! I think Minchi's are in today too, if I remember correctly. Brooder is ready to go, I am ready for my first Mother's Day as Mama Hen.

Yea mine are in but I can't get them till tomorrow.

 

[WendyGeisler]

Hi All!
I just found this thread and am sooo excited!
I am from Colorado Springs and bought 4 chicks from the Kiowa store on April 20th. I am having sooo much fun with learning about them and preparing for them to be outside. BUT.... I am having a bit of a battle with my HOA. I live on the NW side of the springs, there is Nothing in my covenants against chickens but they are still giving us a hard time. Any advice?
here is the letter we wrote to the board...
Reed Ranch HOA May 11th, 2012
Z & R Property Management
6015 Lehman Dr #205
Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Dear Linnea,
I contacted you by phone on May 9, 10 and 11 to ask about the HOA bylaws on having pet chickens. We want to make sure that we are acting legally and within our rights as home owners. We don’t want to do anything that is in violation with the HOA bylaws.
The Colorado Springs, CO Chicken Ordinance 6.7.106 allows 10 chickens per household, no roosters, and a permit is not required. This is the ordinance for those living within city limits. We called the Police Department and spoke with Code Enforcement and they confirmed that our address applies to this ordinance. We also talked at length about noise limits, and cleanliness standards. We have no desire to have that many chickens, but would like 2 or 3.
Police Department code enforcement was reached at (719-444-7891).
We also called the Humane Society and spoke with them at length about chicken coop requirements, acceptable noise limits, and cleanliness standards.
As we have reviewed our HOA covenants the article concerning animals is Section 312. It states,
“No animals except domesticated birds or fish and other small domestic animals permanently confined, and except an aggregate of two domesticated dogs or cats shall be maintained in or on any Lot within the subdivision and then only if kept as pets. No animal of any kind shall be permitted which in the opinion of the Approving Authority makes an unreasonable amount of noise or odor or is a nuisance. No animals shall be kept, bred or maintained within the Subdivision for any commercial purpose.”
We believe that 2 to 3 pet chickens can be kept in accordance with all of the elements of the above section. We plan to keep chickens as pets in a contained area on our property. Having chickens as pets is becoming increasingly popular. We have no intentions of disturbing neighbors with either noise or smell, and we are very willing to work to make our neighbors happy. There are many types of chicken breeds. Some are very docile and calm. These make excellent pets for children and are easily socialized to become domestic pets. We have young children and would like them to experience raising chickens as well as participate in the 4-H program. Female chickens are not loud and can be great assets to gardeners. 2 to 3 chickens are much quieter than normal dogs. Chicken manure is high in nitrogen and makes wonderful compost for gardens. We have plans to use this waste within our garden systems and will not be letting manure build up to cause odors.
While reviewing our HOA bylaws we came across the HOA meeting minutes. In the April 2009 minutes there was a dispute between a home owner and the HOA concerning the number of dogs allowed. The HOA bylaws say 2 dogs, and the city ordinance says 4 dogs.
The minutes say, “Board Reviewed the discrepancy in terms of covenants vs. city ordinance pertaining to the number of dogs allowed to a residence -City and state laws usurp neighborhood covenants’.”
We have consulted with a Lawyer specializing in HOA issues and he believes that we were within our legal rights to have pet chickens on our property without violating any HOA bylaws. He believes this position is defensible. Please let us know if there is any objection to this and for what specific reasons.

Sincerely,
Paul and Wendy Geisler
6130 Moccasin Pass Ct.
Colorado Springs, CO 80919

 

[Minchi]

Ahh battle wounds, just cut my face with a zip tie from setting up the chicks new home.

 

[coloradochick]

Wow Geislers

I know who to contact should I need a letter written

Sounds good and to the point. Good luck!

 

[larca83]

Wendy: Good luck!!

Minchi: Ouch! Enjoy picking up your chicks tomorrow.


Here's a picture of my five brand new little girls. Two Ameraucanas in the front, Silver Laced Wyandotte on the right, Buff Orpington in the back. The Rhode Island Red is somewhere in the chicken pile.

 

[Minchi]

Awww they are very cute. Were all the Ameraucanas light like yours?

 

[larca83]

Awww they are very cute. Were all the Ameraucanas light like yours?

No, some were darker. It's hard to tell in the photo (red bulb + iPhone camera = crappy pictures), but the Ameraucana on the left has some pretty dark patches on her head and back. I remember seeing some that had more dark spots than this one. The Ameraucanas were my favorite, such nice looking chicks. They're all doing really well now. They weren't very happy riding in the car, especially when we got to the unpaved roads where I live. Oh - you might be planning to bring one anyway, but if you have a box you can bring to the feed store to put them in, that would help. They said they are running out. I had a box in my car and they put some wood shavings in it for me.

 

[Minchi]

Thanks, I wasn't going to but I have a good sturdy box that I can use.

 

[kmatt87]

to those of you that have read about my problems order a coop and the crooked company that tried to keep my money without giving me my product. I have disputed charges with the bank/credit card and have reported them to the BBB

Now onto the good news. I think i found my coop!! In Belvue there is an old chicken farmer that makes them as a hobby/form of income. So not only does he know what he's doing but he isn't trying to cut corners either The one I'm looking at is a 4X6 and has a really good design/layout. Plus its high quality and only 450! Since hubby doesn't have the time to build one we decided to purchase one and i didn't realize how expensive they could be till I started looking at them!!

Hopefully it looks as good in person as it does in the pictures!!

 

[Minchi]

There are friend you could hug and there are friends that you could strangle.... I was suppose to leave to pick up my babies at 1, we arranged that time so that they could come with us. (they asked) They are half an hour away from us and just getting out of the shower.