in your opinion how many chickens in suburban area in terms of sound?

[asteria01]

suburban area, i have neighbors directly behind and on one side of the house, but the other side is the road. we technically shouldnt have chickens in our area but will not persecute as long as our neighbors dont turn us in. so, with that in mind, im trying to achieve a reasonable number for keeping hens so that they will not bother the neighbors in the morning. i was originally thinking maybe 6 hens might be feasible in terms of sound, but now i am having second thoughts about that. i would appreciate any input. thanks!

 

[Teila]

Howdy asteria01

I am in Australia and the local laws in our area allows 6 chickens; I have four and hoping to keep two of my recently hatched chicks to take it up to 6.

I am not breaking any laws and have the coop in the right place etc and my neighbours are pretty good. I find that giving away any excess eggs to the neighbours is a good touch

With regards the noise, it could depend on the breed and chickenality of the individual.

My gals usually only make a racket early in the morning if something is stalking them; cat! Other than that and the occasional egg song, they are pretty good.

I was actually chatting to my neighbour today and he mentioned he heard them yesterday and thought they were celebrating an egg but they were, in fact, being stalked.

So, three bantams, my neighbour heard them but all was OK as he was already up.

I had a young rooster, practicing his crow before I found a home for him; I mentioned to the neighbours that one of my chicks turned out to be a boy and apologised for his practice crows at 04:45am but no-one had heard him.

In my experience, my gals are not noisy but they do make enough noise for the neighbours to know they are there, just not enough to be annoying

They are definitely not any noisier than the neighbourhood dogs and wild featheries, Crows, Parrots, Galahs etc.

 

[asteria01]

we had a neighbor once that had an aviary outside with cockatiels, budgies, finches etc. i dont think anyone ever said anything to them as they kept them for a long time, until they moved out. they even yard saled off some of their younger finches once or twice. hopefully that means my neighbors will be accepting of chickens? to be honest i am a bit afraid of telling my neighbors that i have chickens in the backyard, because if they are opposed to the idea, even if the chickens dont bother them they might report us. i dont think that our neighbors would be this type of person, but you never know...

 

[Teila]

Yep, my neighbours children and dogs probably make more noise than the chickens

As I said though, I am allowed to have 6; so not a drama and if our local Council does come out for a look, all is correct and clean.

I understand that you do not want to tell your neighbours and this is just my humble opinion but as you are not supposed to have chickens, it may be worth sounding them out before you get the chickens.

If you let them know you are thinking of getting some and they seem OK with it, you can also ask them to let you know if it becomes a problem at all. If you get the chickens without telling them, they will probably hear them at some stage and if they complain you may have to get rid of the gals you would have become attached to.

Probably best to find out beforehand if anyone has any objections and let them know to come to you in the first instance if they have any issues after the fact.

 

[aart]

If you're not willing and prepared to face the consequences if you do get turned in, you should not get chickens at all.
Chickens can be quite loud, even the hens...it's not just your immediate neighbors but anyone who drives/walks by and sees/hears them.
There's also the odor to think about, when chicken poop gets wet, like in the run when it rains, the smell can be atrocious and carry quite far on a breeze.
Chickens can be easy and fun to have once you have the proper housing, containment and some experience, but there is a huge learning curve and it can cost some bucks to get set up.

 

[asteria01]

If you're not willing and prepared to face the consequences if you do get turned in, you should not get chickens at all.
Chickens can be quite loud, even the hens...it's not just your immediate neighbors but anyone who drives/walks by and sees/hears them.
There's also the odor to think about, when chicken poop gets wet, like in the run when it rains, the smell can be atrocious and carry quite far on a breeze.
Chickens can be easy and fun to have once you have the proper housing, containment and some experience, but there is a huge learning curve and it can cost some bucks to get set up.

I see what you mean as those are very valid points. i am willing to face the consequences when it comes to that, but all in all i just want to try to find a way for this to work, as giving away my chickens would not be something i want to resort to.

 

[aart]

Quote: All's you can do is get them, cross your fingers that no one rats you out.....and be ready to get rid of them if need be.
Hopefully there's not a fine involved also.

 

[Mrs. K]

start with a much smaller number. Unless you have a very very large back yard, 6 hens is going to take up a fair amount of room. You need a 25 square foot coop, and at least 60 sq feet run.

See how it goes with manure, sound and eggs. Kind of break in your neighbors too, to a small amount.

Unless you have a large family, most families do not need 3 dozen eggs a week. 6 young hens will make close to that during the summer, a little less in the winter.

 

[asteria01]

start with a much smaller number. Unless you have a very very large back yard, 6 hens is going to take up a fair amount of room. You need a 25 square foot coop, and at least 60 sq feet run.

See how it goes with manure, sound and eggs. Kind of break in your neighbors too, to a small amount.

Unless you have a large family, most families do not need 3 dozen eggs a week. 6 young hens will make close to that during the summer, a little less in the winter.

so maybe 3 hens is good? what about bantams? also im planning on part time ranging, meaning we will usually let them out into the yard, except days we are not home.

 

[Mrs. K]

I don't know, never had bantams, but have secretly thought, if I have to move to town, I will try bantams.