Urban and suburban chickens

[short timer]

For all of us who've had to struggle with this issue...I've always been on the "con" side at work and gotten a lot of heat for it.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/backya...say-6C10533508

[hilldweller]

They don't belong in cities, maybe in suburban areas with larger lot sizes though.

[otterpop]

People raise chickens in my city. One Saturday I had a woman come by, a very nice lady, to inform us that she lived nearby and had a chicken coop. She was canvassing the neighborhood to see which neighbors had cats, because she was concerned the cats might attack her chickens. I think a chicken is a pretty formidable prey for the ordinary housecat. A chicken coop would definitely pique a cat's curiosity. Her concern should have been dogs, some of which have a penchant for killing chickens.

One of the people I work with kept chickens until recently. She put an ad in the paper to give away her coop and someone snatched it up that morning.

My wife would love to have chickens. She grew up on a farm, where the chickens were free-range. Possums prey on the occasional chicken but there is no shortage of eggs or meat at their place. I don't really want a chicken coop. I like fresh eggs, but eventually a chicken stops laying. I know when that time came my wife would look to me to make the unproductive chicken into a chicken dinner. I am too soft-hearted for that.

[imaplanner]

We have chickens on a city lot in a very urban area. Fresh eggs, from chickens fed a healthy diet are far more nutritious and tasty than commercial eggs. I almost won't eat commercial eggs anymore as they kind of taste gross compared to fresh eggs from our hens. Frankly, outlawing urban chickens ecourages the very unhealthy commercial egg industry and is the complete opposite of what we should all be working towards as planners - sustainability and healthy communities.

You don't need, nor should you have a rooster in an urban setting. Hens aren't any louder than dogs; they actually are quieter than dogs. Properly maintained chicken coop and chicken run areas aren't any stinkier than a properly maintained compost pile - meaning they aren't even as stinky as your neighbors yard who never cleans up his dogs poop.

The "issues" people have with chickens are issues with the people raising them, not with the chickens. Properly maintained facilities for laying hens are in no way incompatible with an urban environment.

Our property is roughly 7,000 sf. We usually let them free range our yard, but have kept them enclosed for extended periods in a run area of roughly 40 square feet. I would not see a problem with chickens on anything that includes at least a 500 square foot area of outside yard area, if not less.

[Linda_D]

I think the problem isn't people keeping chickens in cities or suburbs. It's people who are clueless about raising chickens keeping them anywhere.

I wouldn't keep chickens even if I lived out in the country ... I don't things I name.

[Brocktoon]

I think imaplanner hit the nail on the head.

Do you have to get chickens wings clipped so they don't fly over your fence?

The wife and I have discussed getting a few since they love to eat scorpions but my community does not allow for it in my zoning category, yet. However, I think we will pass since I hate birds (except dead and on a plate) and I know my wife will not keep up with the required upkeep.

[dvdneal]

I've always supported the urban chicken, but no roosters. My problem is the same things already mentioned, people don't clean up or take care of the chickens. It's cool for a couple months then they want to get rid of them. Or the chicken stops laying and they don't realize that they should either keep it as a pet or turn it into dinner. The blogs should talk more about that, or people should read more about the life and death of a chicken.

[Plan_F]

Out in our area, there has been a lot of henpecking this issue for a year or more. This region – or sub-region, really – is at the urban fringe, so it's a mixed agricultural and urban area. Farm animals are allowed in Ag districts but not in residential zones. Many suburban towns here have passed ordinances outlawing the yard-bird if there had been any question about whether chicken husbandry (hens) was allowed or prohibited.

Some think outlawing them in residential areas is silly, since the birds are not more of a nuisance than domestic pets are, in general.

However, in another conversation I recently had, someone pointed out that the birds, per se, aren't the problem. Rather, what comes along for the hay ride is. The feed the birds eat, apparently, has been found to attract rodents and (the assumption goes) leads to increasing the rodent population. While I haven't conducted any research on this, since we plan on leaving our ordinance as it is, this is something I would look into if a change to the ordinance were to be proposed.

[NHPlanner]

My hometown adopted this last year: http://www.concordnh.gov/DocumentCenter/View/470

[imaplanner]

However, in another conversation I recently had, someone pointed out that the birds, per se, aren't the problem. Rather, what comes along for the hay ride is. The feed the birds eat, apparently, has been found to attract rodents and (the assumption goes) leads to increasing the rodent population. While I haven't conducted any research on this, since we plan on leaving our ordinance as it is, this is something I would look into if a change to the ordinance were to be proposed.

I think that the rodent issue is similar to everything else. If people leave the feed in the enclosed coop and the coop is contructed properly, or they hang the feed off the ground and maintain spills, it shouldn't attract rodents. I think people tend to just throw buckets of feed in the run without thought to rodents, and then of course they will be attracted to the feed at night.

Most likely when any of our hens stops laying I will keep them on as pets, unless I can bring myself to chop off their heads, which I'm not sure if I can do or not.

Brocktoon- our birds don't get out of the 6 foot high fenced yard. A friend of mine has one chicken that like to fly into trees, up to 15 feet off the ground. So they certainly can fly, in which case you would need to trim their wings. If you hate birds, chickens would suck. But they are really dumb animals and very easy to outsmart.

[Plan_F]

... While I haven't conducted any research on this, since we plan on leaving our ordinance as it is...

LOL, because I spoke too soon. We are comprehensively re-writing our zoning (unified development) ordinance, and chickens are in (for now) ...maybe, that is, until somebodies find out it's there. Here is the proposed version:

D. Chicken Coops and Chicken Runs (Non-Agriculture Exempt)
1. No person may keep more than six (6) chickens on any property at one time.
2. No commercial activity will result from the keeping of chickens on the property.
3. Roosters are not permitted. However, if the gender of a chick cannot be determined at
hatching, a chick of either gender may be kept on the property for no more than six (6)
months.
4. Chickens shall be kept in coops and fenced runs at all times. Chickens shall be kept in
coops from dusk to dawn
5. Chicken coops and runs shall meet the following standards:
a. Chicken coops and runs shall be kept in the effective rear yard and shall be located
at least ten (10) feet from any lot line and ten (10) feet from any other structure.
b. The facility shall be kept in good repair, maintained in a clean and in a sanitary
condition, and free of vermin, obnoxious smells and substances. The facility shall not
create a nuisance or disturb neighboring residents due to noise, odor, damage or
threats to public health.
c. The chicken coop and run shall be designed to ensure the health and well being of
the animal is not endangered by the manner of keeping or confinement.
d. The chicken coop and run shall be adequately lighted and ventilated.
6. No storage of chicken manure is permitted within twenty (20) feet of the lot line. All
chicken manure shall be removed from the property and disposed of properly.
7. Slaughtering of chickens on-site is prohibited.

[imaplanner]

I don't see anything wrong with that ordinance PlanF other than the chicken slaughter. I might nitpick some of the other stuff, but the chicken slaughter thing, or "culling" as its referred to in the literature I've read, is a fairly common thing in chicken keeping. I've never done it myself, but I've heard that done right, it's not noisy whatsoever. I guess my concern is that what should someone be doing with their chickens that no longer lay, or are seriously ill and need to be put out of their misery? It's pretty unrealistic to expect someone to take a chicken to a vet to have it "put down", and where else would someone take their chicken to get rid of it?

I think maybe you might make a distinction between raising chickens for laying, and raising chickens for meat. Raising meat chickens is generally a noisier, stinkier practice due to the requirements of putting weight quickly on the young chickens, and then the slaughter would be all at once. When talking about keeping laying hens, any killing, or "culling of the flock" would be minimal and highly infrequent.

[wahday]

We allow chickens in our city but we are also unusual in that there is lots of rural and agricultural activity mixed into and surrounding the urban area. For those interested in looking at how other ordinances are structured, here is a link to a site where you can peruse the laws throughout the country. Not totally comprehensive, but its pretty thorough: http://www.backyardchickens.com/atype/3/Laws

The main restriction here is around keeping roosters. This is both because they are noisy and obnoxious in an urban setting and because we were the next to last state to outlaw cock fighting! Keeping it classy.

[imaplanner]

. This is both because they are noisy and obnoxious in an urban setting and because we were the next to last state to outlaw cock fighting! Keeping it classy.

I heard that people run cock-boxing matches. Where the roosters are fitted with gloves and electronic vests that register hits.

[short timer]

Plan F - residents proposed a somewhat similar regulatory scheme but the bosses balked when the issues of administration and enforcement came up. While the proponents suggested an "honor system", opponents wanted registration and inspection. The bosses didn't want to give me 20K for a part-time "chicken inspector"

[ColoGI]

They don't belong in cities, maybe in suburban areas with larger lot sizes though.

Sure they do.

[wahday]

I heard that people run cock-boxing matches. Where the roosters are fitted with gloves and electronic vests that register hits.

That I would like to see. Its got Foghorn Leghorn written all over it:

I say, I say, that boy’s about as steady as a hand grenade in a bowl of oatmeal !!

BOFF!

Say, what’s the big idea bashin’ me in the bazooka like that for?

<aside> Nice boy, but he's about as smart as a sack of wet mush</aside>

[btrage]

I'm very anti-chicken in cities and burbs. With the growing prevalence of farmer's markets, there is no reason people can't find locally grown, organic eggs.

[Plan_F]

I don't see anything wrong with that ordinance PlanF other than the chicken slaughter. ... It's pretty unrealistic to expect someone to take a chicken to a vet to have it "put down", and where else would someone take their chicken to get rid of it?

That's a good point. I might want to bring that up. Farmers with animals are already tuned into what to do here; I'm not sure the urban dwellers would be. I imagine many of them would simply select a back-yard burial site next to the one for Rover or Fluffy. (In this state, I believe you can also bury persons (family burial plots), exempt from the cemetery regulations.)

I think maybe you might make a distinction between raising chickens for laying, and raising chickens for meat. ... When talking about keeping laying hens, any killing, or "culling of the flock" would be minimal and highly infrequent.

My guess is that because we have "slaughterhouse" and "food processing" in our ordinance, the idea was to divide uses along those lines. I also have known of Asian, retail-oriented shops in other places that slaughter or butcher on the same site as the birds are kept. We still have a few places around our area that do "meat dressing and cutting" That is, they don't slaughter; they are more like a butcher, especially for hunted deer and local animals. But, yes, that's a good point too.

[mike gurnee]

We adopted an anti-slaughter provision after a certain incidence with a pig in a residential back yard. .:v

[hilldweller]

Fresh eggs, from chickens fed a healthy diet are far more nutritious and tasty than commercial eggs. I almost won't eat commercial eggs anymore as they kind of taste gross compared to fresh eggs from our hens.

A friend of mine has hens and recently gave me a half dozen eggs. It is really remarkable how much fresher-tasting these eggs are than the commercial variety, there is really no comparison. I am now a convert for backyard chickens.

[michaelskis]

I agree with many of you in terms of open space on parcel and the number of chickens. I know someone who has two chickens on 66’ by 132’ parcel which is quite common in many Midwestern cities. For them, it is not much of a big deal because they both grew up on farms and more than ½ their back yard is occupied by a garden.

However, most people don’t grow up on farms these days and I think that most regulations need to be written for the protection of people based on the typical person, not the exception.
Personally, I think that one chicken should be permitted for a particular square footage of open space. What that number is, I don’t know. As for the slaughter provision, I agree with the vet requirement. I can’t imagine what the neighbors where thinking when the pig was slaughtered. My kids would be plagued with nightmares. As it is, the oldest was beside himself for hours after our dog got a hold of a rabbit one day.