Questions for outlaws!

[VigilanteChick]

I'm SOOOOO excited!! I may be bringing a pair of polish home today.

I found a wonderful chicken lady nearby and she is hatching out some eggs for me, I think I'll get about 9 chicks next week, the hope is that I'll be able to rehome roos and noisy hens and end up with a little flock of 5.

After a lot of reading here and thinking about my neighborhood and the weather, etc. I've decided to build an actual garden shed in the back. I will use it as a coop. This way, I can have a chair inside and hang out a bit with them in the winter. When I'm changing food/water/etc, I won't be rained or snowed on. And anyone who happens to be in the house or working next door, will only see a shed, not a coop, if they are in a position to look into my yard. I'm going to plant beautiful plants around it, and add some more bushy plants around the big privacy fence, which surrounds the yard, in hopes that that will cut down on the noise a bit. I still think that if people don't SEE the chickens, they will not be nearly so likely to know that they are there, even if they hear some bawk-bawk- bawking. I only have one neighbor who can see into the yard, and I've got a nice corner fenced off for the chickies, and I will make sure the view from that window is blocked by the shed. I'm feeling pretty good right now. and, yes! I'll have a covered run, too, in their little yard.

It helps that I talked with the director of the animal control here, and she is pro-chicken, AND she told me she knows of a number of households in town with chickens and "they aren't a problem, until someone complains". So far, she has had no chicken related complaints. (in over 20 years.) She didn't tell me to go break any laws, but she also made it clear that it's not a problem until a neighbor says it is. I hope I can get things set up well from the beginning, most of my neighbors are either renting, or seem pretty hip-- no yard nazi's in the immediate vicinity. I tried to stay away from those yards when I was house-hunting last summer. I'm at the top of a hill on a corner, which should help with sound and visibility, too....

I can't wait!!! I'll post pics when the babies arrive.

 

[AndrewH]

Don't have chickens yet, but they will be illegal with I get them

.

One thing I was thinking to try to keep under the radar til I can get the law changed, was to build a "chicken coop incognito". Simply build a LARGE green house which doubles as a coop/run/all-n-one.

This would keep the chickens protected with lots to eat (leave the floor exposed to the grass, etc.), plus it'd help muffle the sound a bit. I think it'd be more work for the keeper, but worth it

.

Of course you'd be limited a little more on the total number of hens, but 2-4 covertly might be better than 10 and getting caught or 0 IMHO.

Adding additional "hiding" methods would help, too.

Put up an 6'-8' privacy fence around the gh and cover the top (or clip wings) and you could even build them a little run for outside time.

Plant shrubs on the inside and outside to help muffle sound and hide the chickens through fence (bamboo is a nice option if it'll grow in your weather zone).

I think the most important thing regardless if chickens are legal or illegal, would be to be open and honest with your neighbors if possible. The more neighbors you can win over before their are problems the better, and talk to them about complaining to you first about problems before calling the city. Bribery and flattery

. If the neighbors are cool with free eggs for dealing with some chicken sounds every once in a while, then you'll be golden.

 

[flgardengirl]

If you do the greenhouse thing I would try to keep the top open or covered with wire and no plastic or glass etc. because greenhouses get super hot in the summer and will easily kill the chickens. I have had plants totally fry in the greenhouse if I forgot to ventilate it or left them in there in the summer. It is a good idea as far as keeping things on the down low but just make sure to keep it super well ventilated.

 

[DaveBeaty]

I have dirt on (almost) all my neighbors...

Two have illegal wells. I have pictures of the kids trespassing on one across the street, plus one of their sons plays drums in a band (I don't complain if they don't complain) and both the elderly couple two houses down the street AND the animal control/code enforcement officer have too many dogs by city ordinance (the same ordinance that fails to mention number of chickens one can keep). The wife of the prison guard next door may be tough. Explain away the noise by blaming the vet behind my house, plus weed her front yard for her.

 

[uberhausfrau]

Quote:
im in the early planning stages of getting my own chickens and in my little neighbourhood there are people who let their dogs out to roam the neighbourhood, leave them out all the time so they can bark at anything that movies at any hour of the dayor night and have feral/outside cats! plus i live near a reserve airbase and live under the landing path of jet planes and AC-130s! really what more noise/nuisance will a few birds cause?

 

[fishfarmer]

Most city laws and ordinances are for roosters. Chicken (hens) are perfectly legal in my city, but I need to get a permit, which I didn't. They wanted to charge me $75 for a permit just to keep chickens!?

, when all of my neighbor said it was okay. So, even though my city allow chickens, I'm an outlaw!

None of my neighbor have turned me in yet.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
im in the early planning stages of getting my own chickens and in my little neighbourhood there are people who let their dogs out to roam the neighbourhood, leave them out all the time so they can bark at anything that movies at any hour of the dayor night and have feral/outside cats! plus i live near a reserve airbase and live under the landing path of jet planes and AC-130s! really what more noise/nuisance will a few birds cause?

You would be surprised--we have a county park that is immediately adjacent to the runway at one ot the major flight training bases. A portion was leased to build a auto race track (well over $1,000,000 facility), which was viewed by the county as an excellent location--noise next to noise. After being open less than 6 months it was forced to close by neighbors who sued because of the noise.

 

[keds]

I am pretty sure my 3 chickens are legal where I am, but I'm still nervous. They are perfectly legal as far as the county is concerned, but we have a HOA where I live (what was I thinking, I know). Recently an attempt to pass new bylaws that SPECIFICALLY banned poultry (among alot of other things--including having an unrestrained dog EVEN IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD and parking your car in the driveway overnight) was made and it failed. The HOA board members that were behind this were then all voted out. The current rules say a 'suitable number of household pets that are not raised comercially and are confined to the property and kept so as not to create a nusiance" or something very similar, and that all zoning is consistant with the county. I got the go ahead from my neighbors (one of whom is on the new HOA board) about the chickens if I agreed to give them some eggs and wouldn't get a rooster. Not a problem. So I think I'm fine, but I'm nervous that some trouble making busybody who lives too far away from me for it to even affect them will try to make trouble if they can--and get me on the 'household pet thing'. This whole HOA thing has been a learning experience for me--- it never occurred to me that people would try to exercise as much control over each other basically just because they can! Oh yes, and I am a horrible speller, and we are starting to look for a new neighborhood.

 

[smith2]

In summary:

1) be open and honest with neighbors, if you think they'll go along with you--otherwise keep your own secrets; we have neighbors coming to get the chicken scat for their flower beds and gardens; throwing in a dozen eggs every now and then never hurts either
2) no roos
3) hide the house, run, and anything else chicken related as far away from others as possible
4) get the quietest hens you can--I have one you could hear in Jackson (75 miles away) every time she lays an egg; others make little to no noise
5) keep things very clean; no smells
7) act dumb-Chickens, are you sure? They must have migrated over and stopped in for a rest.
8) get a medical reason you must eat "fresh" eggs--get a note from a physician/PA/FNP friend that says you must each "fresh eggs" for health reasons--Pelosi should be able to help with this one under Obama's new Health Reform Bill
9) Fight as a last resort--I live in the country, but I think it is morally wrong to irritate the neighbors on purpose OR to be denied YOUR rights as a citizen. There must be a balance for all to be happy.

Good Luck!