Keeping chickens in a garage???

[AmeliaBeastMaster]

Hello! I am brand new here- I know nothing about chickens or birds in general. I'm not even sure if this is the right place to post this question. I know that I love to eat eggs and I have been curious about chicken keeping for awhile now. I want to try as much as possible to grow my own food (as many people do) and chicken keeping seems to be a great way to do that. I am currently in the process of learning and have not yet committed to keeping chickens. I am mostly just looking into it, to see if it would be doable for me.

Which brings me here, with this question....

I live in a community which has essentially outlawed backyard chickens (4K to apply for a permit, you have to have a hearing. Ridiculous- I thought I lived in America. Oh well.) I asked the lady at the land use office what was the city's position on indoor only chickens. She didn't really have an answer, although she said she thought it would likely be ok as long as they were only hens. I emailed the land-use manager, so I will get a final answer on this soon. But I'm left wondering...would this be cruel? I have a large 2-car garage, and a tiny micro-sedan which only takes up 1/3 of the garage. There would be plenty of room to build a big, safe chicken run and a really nice little chicken house for them to roost in. There is a window with a screen I can open for ventilation, and I can check on them whenever I want to, it would probably encourage me to keep their quarters extra clean so the smell doesn't overwhelm my house. I am only interested in keeping 3-4 hens.

But I'm wondering, would this be wrong or cruel? It seems a little artificial, but I would take good care of them and give them enrichment. I don't let my kitties go outside because the world is too dangerous, so to me it doesn't seem cruel- but then again I don't know jerk shot about chickens. So here I am asking this....has anyone heard of garage chickens?

 

[TheAlrightyGina]

You might want to consider quail instead of chickens. They are also prolific egg layers, but have smaller space requirements.

 

[AmeliaBeastMaster]

Nut trees don't make noise or exude stinky stuff.

Mind sharing what city?
Someone suggested trying to change the law there.
Might browse this forum for ideas.

Not just nuts, there are cows and horses too. Just commenting that its essentially farm land with a few subdivisions thrown in. City is Sherwood, OR. They had a committee meeting on the issue in 2015 and the proposal to remove the land use fee application (worth mentioning, chickens are not actually forbidden. They require a permit, which is 4K and requires a hearing). There is not actually language which forbids, or limits chicken keeping. Only that it requires a "change in land use permit". No comment on how this is regulated or punished, the mayor herself said that people were keeping chickens in Sherwood and the city had no intention to actually enforce this "law" in any real sense, so I'm really not sure what they would even do. I will look into changing the law, I will read the info in that forum, thank you.

 

[AmeliaBeastMaster]

This thread is over a year old, however I am posting here to let everyone know the following: after tons of back and forth with the city and a Facebook group I started, backyard chickens are now legal in Sherwood, OR. Thank you so much to everyone who responded to me and offered advice. I'm very happy to say that I fought the law, and I won

 

[3KillerBs]

Chickens generate a tremendous amount of dust from feather dander, scratching up their bedding, dried poop, etc. This dust would get on EVERYTHING in your garage.

Additionally, it would be almost impossible to adequately ventilate a garage short of leaving the garage bay door open at all times, day and night, whether you're home or away.

More and more towns are changing their restrictive regulations. It would be best to work toward that change rather than attempt to keep farm animals indoors.

 

[RoosterML]

You might want to consider quail instead of chickens. They are also prolific egg layers, but have smaller space requirements.

This is exactly what I was going to say, give quail a go!

 

[AmeliaBeastMaster]

HOA?

I would not keep chickens in a garage that has running engines in it.
Doesn't take much exhaust to kill a bird.
They need to be on the ground outside with fresh air, IMO.

No, it's the city. I don't live in an HOA (thank God!). But they nixed the garage idea anyways. My husband says we should just keep them and that no one will notice (we live on a larger parcel, set back from the road). But I'm nervous about it and don't want to get an animal if there's a chance I will have to rehome it. I'm probably going to do some research about quail and see if they are also banned, and perhaps try to work on the city government to lighten the restrictions.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I'm going to look into quail and see if I can pull a fast one on the city. If it isn't specifically mentioned that no quail are allowed, then I'm guessing that I would be in the right. At the very least I can please ignorance. Can't believe this stupid ordinance, its actually really shocking because the majority of the parcels in my quadrant of the city are over an acre. Plus we are less than a 1/4 mile from a farm community which grows the majority of the states hazelnuts. It's just not a fitting or reasonable law, given the area.

Quail may be a better choice but the town/city may still consider them to be "poultry" if you keep them any place except inside of your home. All it takes is you opening the garage door & one jerk neighbor to see & complain, regardless of what animal you have there.

I don't mean to sound negative but trust me I used to live in a neighborhood and neighbors will complain about anything and everything, especially if you have a busy body, bored, stuck in the house, looking out the window all day for things to bitch about. One nasty lady complained because my neighbor had a kennel set up for their dog in the garage, she made up a false claim that they were boarding dogs! It was just whenever their son had weekly meeting in the house, they would put the dog in the crate in the garage for a few hours or he'd get too excited running around other kids during their meeting, but she saw the empty dog crate out there when the garage door opened, and proceeded to complain, saying dogs in their garage were attracting rats!

Just be aware of potential idiot scenarios.

 

[RedneckUrbanFarmer]

Honestly, I would work on getting your city to change its ordnance - this forum has some good resources for that.

But in the meantime, some things to consider: as has already been mentioned, they would do much better with natural lighting.

Also, digging/dustbaths. Can you provide a plastic kid's pool full of dirt or sand? Do you mind if they kick it all OUT of the pool?

Would you consider starting with smaller bantam breeds rather than full-size breeds, at least until you can get the city to change its mind?

And keep in mind that even if you do get the ordnance changed, your HOA (if you live in one) might still say no.

I agree that it sounds like better conditions than a factory farm has, but fresh air/light may be the biggest hurdle.

 

[Ruby Rogue]

I think it would be just fine. I wouldn't leave my vehicle idling in the garage but other than that they will be safe. I'll be putting my new chickens in the garage as well since the price of lumber is outrageous right now. I'm using the side door as an opening to a run so they can be outside during the day. I know of someone else who has their chickens in the garage as well with a little door they cut out to let the chickens outside. Maybe you could do the same. OR carry them ouside everyday! Best of luck

They can't have them outside. Would you keep yours in the garage without them ever being able to go outside?

Quail are an good idea. And since there are (probably) no ordinances about quail, you probably could keep them outside.
Either way.