Meat birds in town?

[Janedi]

My family is planning to move onto a 1/4 acre in town. After raising our own chickens for meat for the last 7 years, we are loathe to give that up. Our kids also raise them for 4h, so we’d like to continue. Has anyone successfully raised meat birds in town? A movable chicken tractor is not an option since we won’t have space to move that around. I’d love to hear what sort of coops you use and how you keep the smell down. Photos would be great too!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Have you reviewed the ordinances in your city to see what the rules are regarding chickens?
I'm in the suburbs so not exactly in town but it is still in a city. Just about an acre. Fortunately, the property has a fairly narrow road frontage a little over 100' and widens as you move toward the back so it is long and narrow but much larger at the back where I've had a big garden and as many 5 chicken coops. I've raised chickens many years for meat and eggs. Usually anywhere from 40-100 birds.
No one even knew till there was a newspaper article about me which led to a one year battle to change ordinances. Which we won.
As I'm sure you know, the smell is all about stocking density, bedding and feed. If you over feed protein, that creates ammonia in the bedding as excess nitrogen is excreted in waste. The more chickens confined in the space, the greater the smell. When I was in the news, several tv stations came out to interview and one of the reporters looked at me with a shocked expression after sticking his head in a coop. I asked what was wrong. He said, "There's no smell". I said, "of course not, if you manage them well, there never will be - chickens only stink if poorly managed".
I'm sure the publicity was largely responsible for my legal success but it was close. I think city council vote was 4-3 in my favor.
A key is to not try and raise 100 meat birds at a time. Perhaps 20 or 30, butcher some early(3.5-4 weeks) as Cornish game hens and let the others grow for a bit.
I hatched a lot and when I had 100 birds, a significant number were chicks and adolescents.

 

[Janedi]

Thanks! This is great advice!

 

[Janedi]

Have you reviewed the ordinances in your city to see what the rules are regarding chickens?
I'm in the suburbs so not exactly in town but it is still in a city. Just about an acre. Fortunately, the property has a fairly narrow road frontage a little over 100' and widens as you move toward the back so it is long and narrow but much larger at the back where I've had a big garden and as many 5 chicken coops. I've raised chickens many years for meat and eggs. Usually anywhere from 40-100 birds.
No one even knew till there was a newspaper article about me which led to a one year battle to change ordinances. Which we won.
As I'm sure you know, the smell is all about stocking density, bedding and feed. If you over feed protein, that creates ammonia in the bedding as excess nitrogen is excreted in waste. The more chickens confined in the space, the greater the smell. When I was in the news, several tv stations came out to interview and one of the reporters looked at me with a shocked expression after sticking his head in a coop. I asked what was wrong. He said, "There's no smell". I said, of course not, if you manage them well, there never will be.
I'm sure the publicity was largely responsible for my legal success but it was close. I think city council vote was 4-3 in my favor.
A key is to not try and raise 100 meat birds at a time. Perhaps 20 or 30, butcher some early(3.5-4 weeks) as Cornish game hens and let the others grow for a bit.
I hatched a lot and when I had 100 birds, a significant number were chicks and adolescents.

I’ve researched the ordinances and there are non beyond that poultry needs to be kept in a humane and non-disruptive manner.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So you are good to go then.
We have 92 different cities in my county and many more across the river in Illinois.
I've spoken at city council meetings all over the area supporting people wishing to change ordinances and we were successful about 70% of the time.
I've even had cities pay for their code enforcement officers to attend the chicken keeping classes I teach at the community college.

 

[Janedi]

I edited as you were responding. Do city ordinances allow chickens?

Yep!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've never even gotten a permit for building my coops. The structure ordinance requires permits for buildings 100 sq. ft. or larger. All my coops have been 97-99 sq. ft..
Two together create an octagon separated by a breezeway with all access doors for roosts, feed and nests facing the breezeway covered by an unattached higher roof allowing work out of the rain and snow. While each are under 100', the complex is well over 200 sq. ft. counting what is under roof but that is a technicality they never called me out on.
Significant vegetation around the perimeter kept all my activities invisible to the outside.
I was also fortunate that surrounding properties on my side of the road are larger than mine even though one house is closer to my coops than my house is. Across the street from me and that whole side is subdivisions on small lots.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I live in the city (Cleveland, OH) and raise smaller batches of meat birds twice a year. It can be done! I don't even think I have 1/4 acre. I used to tractor batches of 7, but I felt bad they had so little space, and I got sick of my tedious little tractor. Now I tractor for the first week or two outside when they are small, and then transfer them to a small prefab coop to sleep in at night, with a large run for the day. It's probably 20'x20'ish. I've had good results with this and I love how active the chickens stay (as long as you don't over-feed them of course).

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

How many meat chickens are you hoping to raise yearly?

 

[Janedi]

I live in the city (Cleveland, OH) and raise smaller batches of meat birds twice a year. It can be done! I don't even think I have 1/4 acre. I used to tractor batches of 7, but I felt bad they had so little space, and I got sick of my tedious little tractor. Now I tractor for the first week or two outside when they are small, and then transfer them to a small prefab coop to sleep in at night, with a large run for the day. It's probably 20'x20'ish. I've had good results with this and I love how active the chickens stay (as long as you don't over-feed them of course).

I'm happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

How many meat chickens are you hoping to raise yearly?

I think this is probably the option we may have to go with. How do you keep the run from getting stinky and how many do you do at a time?
We’re a family of six so at least 50, but ideally 100. I’m not even sure if that’s realistic for town. I know we’d definitely have to do several batches.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I think this is probably the option we may have to go with. How do you keep the run from getting stinky and how many do you do at a time?
We’re a family of six so at least 50, but ideally 100. I’m not even sure if that’s realistic for town. I know we’d definitely have to do several batches.

We only run 7 at a time because it's just my husband and I. They don't get stinky because they have a lot of space and are only around for 8-10 weeks.

It's going to be harder to do 50-100 birds, but I wonder if you could do 2 batches of 25-40 (one in spring, one in fall) in a run that's bigger than what I have. I find that the grass has adequate time to grow back between batches.