Got my chickens! Now what?

[Carolyn227]

I live in a neighborhood with a no farm animal clause. My husband knows the president of the neighborhood association and it's basically a "don't ask, don't tell" policy. We'll only get in trouble if we get ratted out by the neighbors. And then, we won't get fined, we'll just have to get rid of them. The neighborhood association president agrees that it's silly to have an anti-chicken rule in the neighborhood. Especially since dogs are much more noisy than chickens!

Yesterday we brought home 6 chickens. I'm not sure how old they are. They seem to be about half size and they're getting their adult feathers. We have the coop in the house at the moment as the chickens are still feathering out and we don't think they're quite ready to handle the weather yet. We have a small coop and fenced yard and we'll be expanding it as they get bigger. As for right now we're just trying to get them to be friendly and we're keeping them warm. We have a big yard and would like them to have the run of our yard, but we know that in a neighborhood that's just not possible. We also have cats that intrude into our yard that we'd need to protect the chickens from.

So I'm not really worried about people seeing into our yard- it's really private in the back yard, and our yard is really large. I'm worried about people hearing the chickens and complaining to the board. We think one of the chicks may be a rooster and if that's the case, he'll be going right away. We don't want to disturb the neighbors, of course! Has anyone dealt with having chickens "under the radar?" Any tips for a new chicken owner?

 

[skysoldier]

Every community is somewhat different so you should tread lightly. The bylaws of many home owner associations are somewhat vague and violations are often ignored. This practice often renders these particular rules unenforcable. If you are determined to keep chickens in spite of rules contrary to the practice it would be to your advantage to nuture very good relations with your closest neighbors. Bribing with eggs may be of significant help in doing this. Depending on the particular breed of chickens you have cats may not be an issue with fully grown chickens. One of the leading causes of death to chickens in the urban setting is dogs. So you should be especially mindful of any dogs in your neighborhood and get to know those who habitually run at large and guard against their intrusion into your property. The community where I live strictly limits the number of chickens that can be owned however there are ways to play their games also. But do so carefully. I have been raising chickens for some time and have not encountered any serious issues with the bureaucrats as of this writing. My property has never been inspected and I make it very inconvenient for the inspectors to come on to my property. Most will not bother you if you stay under the radar by not telling everyone what and how many you have and avoid confrontations with neighbors.

 

[Carolyn227]

I've rarely had dogs get into our yard, but my husband is going to make sure the fence is secure. They will be enclosed in their own yard, and not free-range. That's for the future when we have more than just a large back yard!

We're friendly with most of our neighbors, and especially those who are closest to us. We regularly give our neighbors fish that my husband catches, so we'll have to start giving them our extra eggs when the hens start laying. If we have to get rid of them, my girlfriend has a large property with many hens already and she won't mind taking on my hens.

Thanks for your response!