HELP! Need counter-arguments for non-believers.

[khorvath]

OP what's the average land lot size of the houses in your neighborhood? Most places have a strict 1 acre minimum land size for chickens.

It varies. Our lot is just under a 1/4 acre. Neighbors on both sides are fine with us having a small flock (4-6 max). Most of the lots in town are around the same size or a tad smaller. Certainly enough for a flock this size. This is certainly an urban coop type situation vs. a big free range flock situation. There are actually a lot of people in our town that currently have chickens illegally and there have been no complaints to the city. Most people don't even know that are in the town because they are taken care of and not an issue.

 

[khorvath]

X3

Woot woot!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

People who break rules scare me a little. If the covenants say one dog and my neighbor has six, what do I do about it? If I try to speak to him politely, I may be putting myself in harm's way. He could get ugly and confrontational and make my life miserable. If I report him to the authorities, same thing. People can be vindictive. By breaking the covenants he's already shown a lack of respect for other people's rights and for authority and law. I used to stand up for the law and my rights, but I'm old and feeble now and have come across some mean and scary people.

OP, I respect your desire to change the covenants in your area by going through proper channels and wish you luck. But from the sounds of it, there is a contingent of oppositional bullies who aren't having it. I think you need to change your tactics. How about hooking up with the local 4-H club or FFA and the high school and having them do a hatch experiment in their science class? Get the local TV station to follow along and show the "awww" factor. These kids have parents... and the parents are the ones you have to influence. The kids will want to take the little fuzzies home ... but they can't, can they? ... unless the rules get changed.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

If people can grow vegetable gardens to be self sufficient why can’t you raise some chickens for eggs and meat to be self sufficient.
I very much dislike dogs, more so now that my sister got one. Dogs are loud, needy, poop a lot, and I find them all around distasteful. Dogs can carry rabies too.
If the people in your town are so difficult to work with maybe consider moving to a neighboring town that allows chickens to be kept.

 

[Cyprus]

It varies. Our lot is just under a 1/4 acre. Neighbors on both sides are fine with us having a small flock (4-6 max). Most of the lots in town are around the same size or a tad smaller. Certainly enough for a flock this size. This is certainly an urban coop type situation vs. a big free range flock situation. There are actually a lot of people in our town that currently have chickens illegally and there have been no complaints to the city. Most people don't even know that are in the town because they are taken care of and not an issue.

Personally, I feel that is not enough space at all. With a 4sqft coop min and 10sqft run min space that doesn't seem plausible.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Personally, I feel that is not enough space at all. With a 4sqft coop min and 10sqft run min space that doesn't seem plausible.

I live on less than a quarter acre. You only need 4 square feet per chicken in the henhouse if you free range and don’t have an attached covered run for winter/rainy days.

 

[CallieSFlock]

Cyprus*

Apologies on the misspelling Cyprus.

 

[Cyprus]

If people can grow vegetable gardens to be self sufficient why can’t you raise some chickens for eggs and meat to be self sufficient.
I very much dislike dogs, more so now that my sister got one. Dogs are loud, needy, poop a lot, and I find them all around distasteful. Dogs can carry rabies too.
If the people in your town are so difficult to work with maybe consider moving to a neighboring town that allows chickens to be kept.

Salmonella. Biosecurity, biosecurity, biosecurity.

Town near us doesn't allow butchering at all, even off premises.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

It varies. Our lot is just under a 1/4 acre. Neighbors on both sides are fine with us having a small flock (4-6 max). Most of the lots in town are around the same size or a tad smaller. Certainly enough for a flock this size. This is certainly an urban coop type situation vs. a big free range flock situation. There are actually a lot of people in our town that currently have chickens illegally and there have been no complaints to the city. Most people don't even know that are in the town because they are taken care of and not an issue.

For our county, if we have 1/4 acre, we are allowed to have up to 8 hens. I think that keeping 4-6 chickens is totally fair.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I personally feel 1/4 acre is enough for a very small flock, though I'd also like to see guidelines/rules that take into account the welfare of the animals on the most minimal of levels (so a requirement of X amount of sq ft per bird).

I also recommend having a plan in place to handle manure output/disposal. Some cities don't allow composting.

This, plus also possibly guidelines for pest control, as that's also a concern.