Need help persuading landlord!

[trcarlton]

Hi, everyone, I need some help with ideas on how to persuade my landlord to let us have up to 3 hens, per Kent, WA ordinance. I asked him 3 days ago if we could have them just for eggs, no rooster, and he replied today with "I think that I would rather not at this time". So, not a 100% NO, but I want to make sure that the detailed email I send him is as convincing as possible, because I think I'm only going to have 1 chance to appeal. We are a small family of 4 - myself, my husband, and our 2 young children ages 15 months and 3 years, and our 11 year old dog that will have to be euthanized within a few months due to recurring tumors, which is partly why I want chickens, as a healthy distraction from the pain of his loss, for myself certainly (I've owned him for 10 years), but also for our 3 year old who has just lately really bonded with our dog. I got a large 2 piece rabbit hutch today (triangular type, with separate "run" along the entire bottom), and will be able to clean it and make adjustments to accomodate 2-3 hens (going for Americaunas because I've heard they are faily quiet and docile) and turn it into a chicken tractor so there's no damage to the grass, and the hens would always be secured. I was disappointed but not defeated when our landlord gave me his first answer. Any ideas would be great - he's been really flexible with flower garden, pruning shrubs and trees, etc, but we had a fairly recent issue with a minor mouse invasion that caused some headaches for everyone (this is apparently a matter of when, not if, mice invade, given our area, and the greenbelt along one side of us), so I think that's playing a big role in his hesitation, so any recommendations on keeping feed waste minimal and feed storage critter proof would be great. Thank you!

 

[paddock36]

Maybe introduce him to BYC so he can see for himself all the good (and the bad too). Who knows maybe he will want some too or you could tell him you could give him the extra eggs.

 

[trcarlton]

LOL thanks paddock36 - I appreciate the suggestion. I've got a pretty strong but polite email started, including a link to the Kent ordinance, and listing all the benefits of having hens, and exactly what we would like to get, how it would look, and why we want this...hopefully he will allow it once he sees how much thought and research has gone into it.

 

[Yay Chicks!]

When you are trying to convince someone to come over to your way of thinking, especially when it is the property owner, if might help to come up with why it would benefit him. You have great reasons for why it would be good for you and your family, but that may not motivate him to change his mind.

Good luck.

 

[paddock36]

Don't forget to mention that you don't need a roo to have eggs, so the noise would be minimal and with the big Salmonella outbreak knowing your eggs are healthy would be a major benefit too.

 

[trcarlton]

Thanks, Yay Chicks! - I've covered the angles of helping to keep the bug population down, and fertilizing the grass...but I couldn't really come up with more reasons that would benefit him more directly.
Thanks again, paddock36 - On a personal level, I'm a little hesitant of roosters anyway - had a bad experience when I naively went to collect eggs while I was petsitting for a lady that had chickens, and the rooster kicked my butt (until I found the small rake by the coop door...duh!)

 

[WhetzelMomma]

Chickens also eat mice. You can compost their waste to make flower beds more productive. Feed is easy to store in metal containers away from rodents. With your hens living in a tractor, they are very much like rabbits in the way they can be kept in a city setting. Be aware though, that unless you have a large yard, even with a tractor, chickens can cause damage to lawns. Have a plan B in place to share with your landlord in the event that the tractor does NOT protect against damage. (like a side yard with gravel or concrete) Keep your run area dry, because wet poo attracts flies more than dry does.

 

[trcarlton]

Aha! Thank you, WhetzelMomma - the part about eating mice will probably be a big part of convincing him that allowing us to have chickens is a good idea

Plan B for saving the grass is to move them around under the mini orchard (1 plum & 2 apple trees), or on the large gravel driveway.

 

[Plucky Pullet]

This is an interesting thread.
I just moved into my house 2 months ago and when I moved I asked about keeping chickens.Well at that time the property manager told me that keeping chickens in Vancouver WA is illegal within the city limits.
It wasn't until after I found this chick wandering down the side of the road, and discovered this site that it became clear chickens are in fact legal to own in the city limits of Vancouver. I have been trying to get in touch with my property manager in regards to keeping a chicken at the property for some time now. I do not have direct access to contact my landlord, so now it is the waiting game.

I would raise the issue of healthy eggs to the landlord as one of your reasons to the landlord.

 

[trcarlton]

Thanks Plucky Pullet, Here's what I've got so far (this is in ROUGH draft, so bear with me!):
"When you said you would rather not allow chickens at this time, I was wondering if that was a hard and fast definately not, or if I could help clarify what the situation would be maintained as if allowed?

The reasons why I would really like to be allowed to have chickens here is parlty because our 11 year old dog that we have owned for 10 years is within months of having to be euthanized due to tumors. Having chickens would be a really good distraction for Jacob, as well as being a good light responsibility for him to help take care of them on a daily basis. Chickens are an excellent option as a low-maintenance and low-cost "farm" animal, and, particularly in light of the recent 380+ million egg recall, I would like to offer my family guaranteed healthy and fresh eggs for our diet.

I have put a lot of thought and research into the different breeds of chicken, both in temperament, purpose (meat, egg, or both), space requirements, and volume. We would like to have no more than 3 Americauna hens (in accordance with the city of Kent's codes: http://www.codepublishing.com/WA/Kent/html/Kent15/Kent1508.html#15.08.070), which are a very calm and quiet breed, and they would be used for eggs. We would like to keep them in a portable chicken coop, also known as a chicken tractor, which would not only prevent damage to the grass underneath as the coop can be moved daily, but it also provides healthy grazing opportunities for the chickens to eat bugs in the grass, keeping the bug population down, and the chickens also help fertilize the grass.

Under no circumstances would we want a rooster - they are noisy, potentially aggressive to people, and are not required for the production of eggs.

For a very thorough summary for both pros and cons of chickens, please check out http://greenlandlady.com/site/business/the-urban-chicken-coop-movement/."

Whatcha think?