Backyard chickens-who has them and do your neighbors care?
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Anonymous
Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it...time for you to get a "first clue". The problem is clearly stated in your last paragraph "I associate...", which is your problem, not others. I can fall for that trap, saying I associate people who associate raising chickens in the backyard for eggs, meat and pets as being poor, I associate those people as being elitist among other things but lets not go there. Let's educate....during the Great Depression, if you had ready food sources such as chickens, pigs, cattle, you were admired and envied. It meant you had barter goods when others had none, because really most people didn't have ready cash. You could trade food stuffs for labor. Remember the iconic pictures of New York City during the Great Depression? Men and children on corners selling apples for a penny each, these people were city dwellers, not the farmers coming into town. Even the rich, families such as the Vanderbilts, had chickens being raised on their many estates, locations such as those in New York, Rhode Island and North Carolina. Besides that some of the mansions had dairy farms on site as an example. These were people that basically can be considered some of the top 10 richest people/families in the world at that time, and we are discussing even in the Depression era...so I guess you would call them poor as a result? Time for you to re-associate yourself with history and then maybe you will better appreciate it, that is unless you are originally from the developing nations you so look down on....which the US was still in the process of during the era of the Great Depression.... |
Anonymous
| Vomit, raising chickens are illegal |
Anonymous
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We're relocating to the DC area from a dense, desirable neighborhood in a mid-sized Midwestern city. Here, chickens are permitted with requirements for secure housing and hygiene that are similar to those for dogs.
My daughter discovered chickens at a demonstration garden and asked for a coop of our own, and after a few years we relented. We told her it couldn't bother the neighbors, and she set out to do a Chicken Feasibility Study (really, floor plans and graphs and everything). We'd heard that there were four coops on our block, and a couple dozen in the neighborhood. The problem was that we couldn't find them. A small flock of hens, properly cared for in an adequately sized coop, doesn't smell - and I mean no smell on a humid 90 degree day standing next to the coop. They also don't make much noise, if any. We had to knock on doors and ask. Turns out I'd been attending cocktail parties in one neighbor's backyard, three feet from another neighbor's coop, with only a 6' fence in between. No clue. Now, our own neighbor holds dinner parties at a table ten feet from our coop. We built the coop and run to lock onto a raised garden bed. There is zero accumulation of poop in the coop and no smell at all because we use a deep litter of coffee chaff and wood shavings over the soil. Poop is scratched into the litter and eaten by earthworms. I've never had to shovel it out, just add more litter when it's all scratched in. The hens free range part of the day, and if there's a piece of poop big enough to notice - not often - I flick it into the run with a trowel as I garden. A little food-grade diatomaceous earth keeps flies and mites away. There are no pests because I feed slightly less than the full ration every morning and the bag is stored indoors. The hens forage for the rest of their calories and eat all of our compost, which is a great thing because our yard is really too small for an active compost pile - 17' x 20' aside from the garage and driveway. It's a great place to relax with a cup of coffee, and my friends prefer to sit out with the chickens when we chat. They're beautiful, healthy, glossy birds and amusing to watch - dinosaurs with feathers, with interesting behaviors and distinct personalities. They're also sometimes apparently affectionate, hopping into my lap for a snuggle. I can't explain it, but their presence gives me a deep sense of contentment when I look out of the kitchen window, an all's-right-with-the-world feeling. They are *not* dumb enough to drown in the rain - they read the weather well and find cover. They can be hard on the grass if the free range area isn't shifted every week or two, but the grass comes back lusher than ever, and it's a fair trade for the ant and termite colonies they detected and destroyed in their first day. The work required to care for them takes 1 1/2 minutes a day plus 3-5 minutes every few weeks. And the eggs - I can't even buy eggs like these at the farmers' market. We enjoy them. They improve our lives a little. They have far less impact on our neighbors than our clean, well-behaved dog does. There's no reasonable justification at all for a total ban. The proposed DC ordinance is alarming because it permits neighbors to object for any or no reason, including the ignorant BS found throughout this thread. I've never considered living in the burbs before, but if we can find one we like with a common-sense chicken ordinance, that's where we'll buy. |
Anonymous
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18:21 again.
I wanted to ask 13:57 from a few days ago where s/he lives, so I can not buy there. Yikes. To clear up some questions, yes, tiny green eggs happen. Auracaunas and related breeds are popular with hobby keepers. They lay blue and green eggs, and there are bantam (miniature) breeds. Also, hens lay small eggs at first, larger as they grow. Small and Jumbo grocery store eggs come from young and older hens, respectively. Backyard hens can lay years longer than industrial birds - diet makes a difference. Chickens aren't vegetarian, and they don't naturally eat lots of starchy grain. Naturally-fed birds eat mostly insects, greens and berries and have much higher fertility and overall health. Temperament is a function of breed and nurture. Some breeds are very docile, and most hobby keepers start taming the birds as chicks or pullets. Araucaunas are closer to wild than the familiar barnyard breeds, and they're not the best choice for newbies who want the birds to be able to free-range, but hand-raising will counteract that. "Mean" birds and flocks with unusual pecking problems usually have poor living conditions or resolvable social issues within the flock. Avian flu is just not an issue, according to the CDC and common sense; human transmission occurred in crowded, miserable, filthy, disease-ridden industrial chicken-keeping operations, not small, healthy backyard flocks like ours. I'm not French-kissing the girls. Also, shockingly, I wash my hands after handling them, just as I do after walking the dog. They're vaccinated and The poop quantities cited are wrong. The whole flock makes less daily than a medium-sized dog, and chicken poop breaks down quickly. We have no trouble finding help for vacations - it's very little work and people enjoy it. Chicken people also help each other out. One young friend fell in love with our girls and will be taking them when we move. We can also set up the coop for 3-4 days unattended, if needed, although I feel more comfortable with someone checking in on them. As for property values, when our local group analyzed local municipal codes, we found that those who permitted chickens skewed higher, and the wealthiest neighborhoods all permit them. Seattle, Portland, NYC - not exactly hurting. And even in Rust Belt cities like Cleveland, which recently allowed chickens and bees, the push is coming from hot, high-value neighborhoods. Bullshit class-anxiety-based statutes are for peons. And the moronic comments about the poors... just... sigh. Keeping chickens was a completely ordinary activity for middle-class homemakers late into WWII. Plenty of period housekeeping books cover the basics. People who are doing it these days are not saving money, because supermarket eggs are painfully cheap. It's about quality. I'm saving about $2 a dozen over farmers' market eggs, but I'm still paying 2-3x as much as I would for industrial eggs. I mean, our dog is cheaper and better than a security system, but we don't have a dog because we're too poor for ADT. All of which is seriously beside the point, because legislating away attempts at self-sufficiency that can help mediate the impact of poverty is shameful, inhuman, indefensible behavior, especially in one of the richest regions of the country. I don't want to live near people who think like that. |
Anonymous
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That's, "they're vaccinated and get periodic miticides, and although they haven't had any health issues, we're educated and prepared to treat the most common ones."
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Anonymous
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Thou doth protest too much, 20:24.
Since you asked, N. Arlington. You're welcome here, but your chickens are not. |
Anonymous
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Not you, the 13:57 who wants chickens.
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Anonymous
| Also, if "protest too much" means "offer accurate information and personal experience to dumbasses who don't know how much they don't know but still have galloping opinions," guilty. |
Anonymous
Plenty of "urban" people had chickens back in the day. My grandparents grew up with chickens in Brooklyn. They were immigrants. |
guess what? they do. I know friends who secretly have coops hidden next to their garden in rockville and the town of Gaithersburg encourages the practice. they just reduced it to 50ft from neighbor's homes. you never know youre neighbor could have a bunch
Anonymous
| The grocery store has organic eggs and chicken, get your filthy half ass fowl out of here. Oh and it's illegal. |
Anonymous
My grandparents had chickens too in Brooklyn. They also did not have a fridge or electricity. So there is that. |
Anonymous
OP here, haha. Thanks for the laugh!  You are one of the few on here I can tell has owned chickens! haha I can't believe this thread is still going...end decision-neighbors are for it and approved!
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Anonymous
Try telling that to the Chinese and other immigrants in Fairfax County. If the real estate values go down, it will be because of the "farm" animals and the vegetables they try to grow on an .001 acre of townhouse backyard. Ironically, they don't do other outdoor work like cutting the grass and cleaning the mold off the house siding. |
Anonymous
PP here with chicken-raising Brooklyn grandparents. Oh I didn't say they were well off. I assume they would have preferred not to slaughter their own dinner in their backyard if they didn't have to. |
Anonymous
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This post was sent to me by a friend.
I live 30 minutes outside San Francisco, in a half a million dollar home. We are well educated and my husband works a full time job. We live with doctors and lawyers, we have a retirement account, pay our mortgage and property taxes. When we got our girls I went to each neighbor and asked. All seven on our block (two neighboring) were enthusiastic, one of those has a wife who was not. She thought it was odd to live in a nice area and own chickens. But she didn't have an issue with me doing it. When we travel, I have our hired pet sitter feed/care for them just as she cares for our cats. Our neighbors check on them in high heat days. We bought Chickens five months ago, three. We did it to grow fresh eggs, have food security in the event of a natural disaster (earth quakes here, they have become part of our 72 hour plan, for their eggs). I have a very nice coop, that set me back $500, plus all the accessories. Our neighbors love them, the coop is very nice, and what is behind my fence shouldn't change property values. If you don't like the view, don't look behind my fence. They are a well kept clean flock. I'm a professional chef, who hosts dinner parties, I let them out to roam under our pergola during dinner parties, it does look like a Pottery Barn catalog. It has been work, but to have eggs I know where they came from, chicks that eat food scraps, help with bugs and compost, and provide me enjoyment has been a great experience for our family. I should also mention, I live on 6,400 square feet, with a lap pool. Literally a 50 foot lap pool. Space is at a premium, yet in densely populated areas it's doable. Here, my eggs are loved by neighbors, cherished by my kids teachers, and my daughters girl scout troop comes by once a year to earn a badge in RECYCLING, because of how we use our chickens. I can't see why anyone would own a dog, they don't produce anything, they chew, tear, have accidents IN the house, etc. they poop in yards, and on sidewalks. But, you better believe if someone told you that you couldn't own a dog I would defend any of you, and your right to own dogs. Our family enjoyed our vacation to Kauai last year, in which we stayed on the beach, and enjoyed local chickens. Kauai is one of the most expensive places to travel, and there are chickens. Not third world. No additional pests, rats or other nuisances relating to my chickens as of yet. If it happens, I will deal with it. Just like I deal with my cats and I'm sure all dog owners do. Chicken shit. Yes, about 1.5 ounces a day per bird. It's like gold to me. Two of my neighbors come get it, fight over it actually. And I compost the rest. Then spread it over my fruit trees. OP- come to the Bay Area. It's accepted here. I'm really shocked about how angry some of you are. Visit a urban coop, talk to someone who does this (not a chicken farmer with hundreds of birds, big difference). |