Seriously, this is what Iove about the south. SC and AL are my two favorite states. Open spaces, beautiful geography, green land. We are more laid back down here, and thing do move slower, but we're not stupid (well, most of us). Those little cookie cutter subdivisions with 3500 sqft houses on quarter acre lots are popping up all around, but I'll take a modest house on 15 acres over a HOA any dayWell, if you travel to the redwoods in Del Norte county, let me know!
Sheesh, everyone's got these nice big places--we've got 0.17 acres in a neighborhood, with a limit of 11 birds, no roosters (or, as the ordinance actually reads, "quacking ducks"--too bad I realized we're not set up for muscovies...). Our yard is fenced in, but since it's chain link, and we're the corner lot, and our house sits back in the corner of the lot (just wide enough to walk on the side and in the back) everything is visible from the streets! Our coop is good sized--100 square feet (yay converted outbuildings) so I don't feel too bad when I leave the birds in, for whatever reason. For instance, I'm redoing the run, and haven't had a chance to finish. I'll need to fix the gate, too. I usually let them out into the yard in the afternoon and evening--our boxer is perfectly fine with them, even when we have chicks (though that was helped last Fall when the broody gave her a bloody nose when the dog wanted a closer look at the fuzzy chew toys!) There are enough crows and ravens around to keep the hawks away, and the dog seems to keep everything else away (except rats...) Since I can't have a rooster anyway, keeping breeds pure isn't a concern. When I don't let them range, it's usually because I don't plan on being around at dusk, or we're having people over and we've just cleaned poo from the walkways...
