Keeping chickens in a garage???

[theoldchick]

I use a garage only for special circumstances such as raising chicks or treating an ill bird. My car stays outside during these times. Chickens are dirty critters and keeping the place clean is prohibitive.

 

[aart]

Plus we are less than a 1/4 mile from a farm community which grows the majority of the states hazelnuts

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.

 

[Meg-in-MT]

Seems to me they're infringing on your rights by trying to tell you what you can or can't have in your own house. How can you need a land-use permit for inside your walls? Is that legal? Not that I'm recommending keeping garage chickens, but I'm not sure how that's the city's concern.

But, I've never lived inside city limits.

 

[T-R-O-U-B-L-E]

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

I just read the first post and didnt even look at how old it was! Glad you won!

 

[cherrynberry]

Honestly, it is at least better than if the chickens were kept in cages in high producing farms. So why not...but chickens LOVE to dig and forage. So if possible I would definitely take them out to have some sun and enjoy foraging. Because like most animals, sunlight is very healthy for them. I also have something else to consider. Chickens need light to lay eggs. So they need daylight, or some sort of lamp or else they wont lay eggs. Thats why when the days are shorter in the winter, they do not lay as much, and sometimes none at all. For example my chickens, who free range all day long, except maybe a 10:00 am or noon (cause hawks and vultures come out at this time), during winter lays 1 egg a day from 11 hens.

 

[AmeliaBeastMaster]

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.

I read the articles of of city code cover to cover. Never once mentions chickens, poultry, quails etc. Looks like its more of a "suggested" requirement? Doesn't mention what kind of offense it is, how it is punished/fined etc. Really bizarre. I want to challenge it, but I don't know how effective I would be.

 

[-Flash-]

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

Whoo! Good job!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Fantastic news! Now you can have a flock and not worry about neighbors' complaints or permits or any of that bad stuff! Good job!!!!!

 

[Bandkau]

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?

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

 

[Liz Birdlover]

This is a fair statement. I do know that it is possible to make it pretty hard to realize they are there. Before my brother bought a farm, he raised quail in his garage and I had no idea even though I went through said garage to get in his house when I visited him. He had to tell me about it. As long as there's something between their cage and the door I doubt anyone except people who literally snoop around your garage would even know.

As long as there's a way to give them sunshine & fresh air, let them have a healthy, happy habitat. A friend converted his garage into a bird habitat for when they breed babies. He parks his mower & tiller in another shed so no gas fumes & he added windows with hardware cloth protective screen so when windows open for air, cats or raccoons can't break in. He had them out on a screened porch temporary while he was cleaning the garage well, and a hawk zoomed in, tearing right through the screen on his porch! Luckily the birds were in a large cage so hawk didn't get them. Just think carefully about their comfort & welfare, garages can get cold, not have enough light or ventilation & can have hidden dangers if you have other stuff in there that's hazardous. Birds have sensitive respiratory systems.