Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:disgusting and thank GOD illegal in fairfax county

please explain this. how so? and what experiences have you had that render this conclusion?

Yet another reason (as if we needed more) not to live in VA.

Anonymous wrote:So much for the "urban" in DCUM. WTF....

Au contraire. You are hopelessly behind the times. So typical of "urban" D.C., sigh. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5900

Anonymous wrote:We grew up dirt poor and we had to grow our own chickens, gather eggs and slaughter them. We also had a goat. I hate goat's milk and cheese after being forced to live on it and it took me a very long time to be able to stomach chicken. We lived on a large parcel of land outside of the city without running water, sewer, cable and intermittent power. The lifestyle was time consuming, dirty, encompassed the entire family at different seasons to can, pick vegetables, freeze / preserve meats etc... Kids barely had anytime to do school work activities etc.. It logically doesn't make sense to do this on your own unless you have oodles of extra time, live on 5 acres of land and are no where near a grocery store.

OP here I understand how living that lifestyle could make one feel that way. Quite the contrary here and not my experience growing up. I don't need a farm, just a couple chickens to waddle around for fun with very little upkeep. clean the coop every day, water, feed, and company in the garden with my oodles of time. some people prefer fresh eggs as opposed the organic ones at the store. I was stunned to find the USDA regs on organic eggs free ranging. there are no standards stating how much room these chickens have or how long they set foot out of their coops that I could find. sort of a grey area and i was surprised.

We grew up dirt poor and we had to grow our own chickens, gather eggs and slaughter them. We also had a goat. I hate goat's milk and cheese after being forced to live on it and it took me a very long time to be able to stomach chicken. We lived on a large parcel of land outside of the city without running water, sewer, cable and intermittent power. The lifestyle was time consuming, dirty, encompassed the entire family at different seasons to can, pick vegetables, freeze / preserve meats etc... Kids barely had anytime to do school work activities etc.. It logically doesn't make sense to do this on your own unless you have oodles of extra time, live on 5 acres of land and are no where near a grocery store.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much for the "urban" in DCUM. WTF....

are you saying people in Bethesda and Rockville aren't allowed or shouldn't have chickens because of the label "urban" 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

No, I, saying once you choose to keep farm animals on your property you really can't call yourself "urban". But I don't consider Rockville or Gathersburg (?) to be urban anyway.

What's next, keeping a cow so you can have fresh milk and cheese?

If provided they are taken care of, in ordinance and plenty of room. Sure. That's their perogative and this is America, remember?

http://montgomerycountydaily.blogspot.com/2010/06/urban-farms-increasing-in-montgomery.html This guy has pigs too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So much for the "urban" in DCUM. WTF....

are you saying people in Bethesda and Rockville aren't allowed or shouldn't have chickens because of the label "urban" 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

No, I, saying once you choose to keep farm animals on your property you really can't call yourself "urban". But I don't consider Rockville or Gathersburg (?) to be urban anyway.

What's next, keeping a cow so you can have fresh milk and cheese?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:disgusting and thank GOD illegal in fairfax county

please explain this. how so? and what experiences have you had that render this conclusion?

We lived next door to a neighbor who had 5-6 chickens. They would often get out and run around the nearby yards picking up all the grass and ground until it was bare dirt. Chickens shit all over the ground so there was always a stench coming from the neighbor's yard , especially when it rained. Eventually enough neighbors were fed up and called Fairfax county zoning. Zoning came and made them get rid of all of the chickens.

"The keeping of livestock or domestic fowl is allowed as an accessory use on any lot of two (2) acres or more in size. "
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/faqs/zoning.htm#animals

OP here, that IS pretty gross. Again, mis-management and too many chickens for their space it sounds like. We've had a similar problem in our previous home when our neighbor's 3 dogs weren't properly cared for and their small backyard was covered in poop-so disgusting I didn't want to go outside. Mont co has different rules.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:disgusting and thank GOD illegal in fairfax county

please explain this. how so? and what experiences have you had that render this conclusion?

We lived next door to a neighbor who had 5-6 chickens. They would often get out and run around the nearby yards picking up all the grass and ground until it was bare dirt. Chickens shit all over the ground so there was always a stench coming from the neighbor's yard , especially when it rained. Eventually enough neighbors were fed up and called Fairfax county zoning. Zoning came and made them get rid of all of the chickens.

"The keeping of livestock or domestic fowl is allowed as an accessory use on any lot of two (2) acres or more in size. "
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpz/faqs/zoning.htm#animals

Anonymous wrote:So much for the "urban" in DCUM. WTF....

are you saying people in Bethesda and Rockville aren't allowed or shouldn't have chickens because of the label "urban" 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 wrote:disgusting and thank GOD illegal in fairfax county

please explain this. how so? and what experiences have you had that render this conclusion?

So much for the "urban" in DCUM. WTF....

OP here, no plans on eating the chickens but will love me some fresh, organic eggs that I KNOW are organic because I raised them. I think it's cool that they will free range in plenty of space and my child will learn about something unique and have a neat experience. For me it's a hobby and something I want to do. I'm really not surprised by some comments that chickens are "gross" and you can catch "xyz"-all of which are hilarious to me. Ignorance.

If you are managing the chicken coop well and don't have way too many chickens they shouldn't smell at all.If you smell chickens, you smell mis-management. To the PP above, if your FIL had secured his coop with proper chicken wire and a protected run that should not have occurred really. But there are predators out there just as alligators prey on people's little dogs is southern states. I don't think that means they shouldn't have dogs anymore. They should protect their pets.

In my experience here, people have a negative connotation associated with chickens. Last time I brought it up to someone they exclaimed, "Oh if that's something YOU'RE into, then good for you" in a condescending tone. I really wish people were more open-minded. We are not poor, quite the contrary

Then, one poster here has chickens?! I wonder if my neighbors will be opposed so they are not associated with "the chickens next door"? Hmmm

disgusting and thank GOD illegal in fairfax county

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would you want chickens?

Eeewww. Chickenshit everywhere. Screams, "I am poor."

What are you going to do when they stop laying eggs in a few years? Stew 'em?

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Keeping chickens a great hobby, doesn't have to be messy and is great fun for children. Suburban chicken coops are architecturally interesting and safe from foxes and very easy to maintain.

Have you ever visited someone with a chicken coop? It's not as you describe...

My FIL had a coop when he lived here.

It was disgusting.

And yes, every so often, some fox would attack. feathers everywhere

just gross

Leave the chickens to the farmers, and grow a garden instead.

I grew up with chickens and I can tell you that he's don't give up eggs without a peck or two.