Need coop to fit town laws

[rosemarythyme]

So yeah, looking at your rules... it's basically 2 standard chickens, max. And no free ranging (normally I don't have issue with that, but 20 sq ft run and no free ranging? REALLY?). The fact that you need a PERMIT for such a tiny coop is ridiculous! But as noted by PirateGirl because they are requiring a permit you will have to follow the size restrictions because they will check to ensure compliance, just as if you were doing renovations to your house.

The only good thing I can say for your town's rules is at least they let you have chickens... though it's silly that they think people could have up to a maximum of SIX chickens in such a tiny space.

 

[21hens-incharge]

So yeah, looking at your rules... it's basically 2 standard chickens, max. And no free ranging (normally I don't have issue with that, but 20 sq ft run and no free ranging? REALLY?). The fact that you need a PERMIT for such a tiny coop is ridiculous! But as noted by PirateGirl because they are requiring a permit you will have to follow the size restrictions because they will check to ensure compliance, just as if you were doing renovations to your house.

The only good thing I can say for your town's rules is at least they let you have chickens... though it's silly that they think people could have up to a maximum of SIX chickens in such a tiny space.

Sebrights maybe?

 

[Morrigan]

Those rules really stink! Hopefully there there is some possibility of getting them to change or giving you some wiggle-room.

If they are inflexible, I would get bantams, and try to do a double-deck scenario under the theory (well, hope) that they won't count the space under the coop as part of the "run". Some like this, but smaller maybe?

 

[lazy gardener]

2 sq. ft. per bird is factory farming conditions. In a back yard flock, we aim to actually give them a healthy environment. So given the foolish space requirements, I'd limit flock size to 2 LF or 3 Bantams.

I wonder if the folks who wrote that rubbish went to TSC, looked at their doll houses and made the assumption that b/c those things are sold, that they must be adequate. And surely if they talked to a sales person, they would have been fed the line that "you can cram x number of chickens into such a coop." So therefore, that is what "we will allow". If you do a google search for chicken coops, you find all sorts of little tiny doll house coops that will supposedly house 6 chickens!

 

[blackdog043]

I think I will contact the town and see if I can go larger as long as the coop isn’t obtrusive and follows the 15 feet from the property lines rule. I’ll update when I hear back

I can understand having regulations, but it should have been by a person that understands poultry keeping. Waiting to hear back what they say.

I would ask them if they would be open to revising the regulations. I wouldn't stop at the first person you ask, sitting behind a desk reciting what has been written. I would keep going higher up the ladder and if you could, attend a city council meeting with the correct size coop and run for a backyard flock of 6 chickens, to provide a healthy environment for them. Good luck!

 

[tigger19687]

YES ! See if you can get them to understand that it is not good for the birds, too small.
Do you have an Animal Control officer? Go ask them if they know ANYTHING about chickens? If they do, they also may be able to help. THEY are the ones that have to see the sad birds shoved in a tiny space

Also, see if you can find other Chicken owners, or get a group of people that WANT to have chickens and know a thing or 2. Get the group to help get the town to change the Regs.

It might not be change the amount of hens you can have, but change their living arrangements.

 

[Alyx01]

Is there a way to find chicken keepers in your state on here? I’m not sure how I would get in contact with people who keep them in my town

 

[21hens-incharge]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/find-your-states-thread.270925/

This should help.

 

[CaitlinS]

I've been looking at a lot of the coops on here and I keep running into the same problem: all of the coops are too tall. My town has the following limitations for chickens: Coop can be up to 20sq ft, run can be up to 20sq ft, and coops/runs can't be taller than 48". I need a coop that looks visually appealing (so neighbors don't complain) but it still has to fit into the town laws. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Alyx, we live in the same town!! I just started a thread about our stupid restrictions, and a few people said they sounded familiar so I went looking for your thread You can read the whole thing here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/looking-for-design-advice.1235434/

Have you had any luck? I'm going to submit my plans tomorrow, which include a dugout area, 12" deep, underneath a slightly elevated coop. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll be happy to share the plans I came up with if you're interested in building one yourself.