Introduction

[greatpearl]

Hi! I’m a young person in the midwest who is very interested in chickens. My dad grew up on a 4-acre farm and while the huge corn fields were the biggest feature, he also did raise chickens-and slaughtered one for meat when he was seven

I live in a small neighborhood with about a 20 by 20 foot yard. I wish to raise at least one chicken, but poor zoning laws prohibit it...even though on of my neighbors behind me has a medium sized pig Anyways, that’s about it!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hello and welcome to BYC. If you can train your chickens to oink like pigs, you're sorted

Here’s a link to the Articles section - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/ There you’ll find lots of information on almost every aspect of keeping chickens - from coop building ideas, to incubating eggs.

There’s a link on the page above to the Learning Centre - it’s a great resource. If you have a specific topic in mind, just type it in the search box - there's a wealth of information on past and present threads.

Each week, various topics are discussed, which can also be a great resource - https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

You may wish to consider joining your state thread as it will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area - Find Your State Thread

All the best

Pork Pie

 

[Allie Grace Sanders]

Welcome to the flock, @greatpearl! You can try to change your local laws on backyard chicken owning. I'll let more experienced members chime in on that though.

 

[Latestarter]

Already greeted you on your question thread as I was there before this one was posted. Greetings and welcome. Your property situation is far from ideal to house chickens... that being said, if your dad is amicable, I don't see why you couldn't create an interior area in your home to have a couple of "house chickens" for eggs and companionship. Obviously you'd want strictly pullets/hens and no rooster as you wouldn't want crowing. Hens make little noise and so alerting potentially hostile neighbors wouldn't be an issue as long as you kept the area clean, smell free.

Many nationwide are successfully changing local ordinances to allow chickens. Though again, with a 20 x 20' outside garden/yard, I doubt even local ordinance changes would allow keeping chickens there. Most ordinances require property set backs to avoid noise/smell issues.

There are breeds that are considered "show breeds" whereby you may be able to side step the livestock issue and still get eggs... just sayin...

Hope you're able to work something out.

 

[sourland]

Welcome to BYC. Until your situation changes, you can come here for your 'chicken fix'.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Lots of people keep quail in places that are not zoned for chickens. Quail do not fall into that zoning category for some reason.

Stop by our Quail section for more help in getting started.... www.backyardchickens.com/forums/quail.48/

And yes, house chickens are VERY common! We have a House Chickens thread in one of the forums too. You should be able to keep them inside as pets.

Good luck and welcome to BYC!

 

[Latestarter]

Just as an aside, you really should consider 2 chickens as a minimum... They are referred to as a flock for a reason. They really do need a companion bird to have heart to heart chats with... Also, don't discount the bantam breeds as many are very pretty, friendly, great egg layers, even though much smaller than the typical large breed chickens.

 

[007Sean]

Howdy Happy to have you join the family. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

 

[MissNutmeg]

 

[4 ever Orpington]

Hi! I’m a young person in the midwest who is very interested in chickens. My dad grew up on a 4-acre farm and while the huge corn fields were the biggest feature, he also did raise chickens-and slaughtered one for meat when he was seven

I live in a small neighborhood with about a 20 by 20 foot yard. I wish to raise at least one chicken, but poor zoning laws prohibit it...even though on of my neighbors behind me has a medium sized pig Anyways, that’s about it!

Welcome to the BYC! Pick yourself self a place on the roost. Scratch around in the yard. Glad to have you with here.