Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Yes, I absolutely would hate you for this and report you. Move to a farm if you want chickens. They are loud and smelly.
Comparing animal for animal, dogs are actually louder and smellier than chickens. Dogs also have the potential to break free of their enclosures and attack (and sometimes seriously injure or even kill) other people. What makes it okay to own dogs? What makes it okay to own multiple dogs? Given the standards some people seem to have on this thread, if dogs were not already allowed, they would never be acceptable pets. Honestly, I think the naysayers either have never experienced chickens at all, or their only experience has been with with full-scale chicken farms and/or large coops housing dozens or even hundreds of chickens. People should understand that if you were to keep 50 or 100 of ANY type of animal, it is going to be loud, poopy and terrible smelly.
When talking about backyard chickens, most people are referring to 2-8 birds, maybe 10 max. It's just not going to be a problem. I know, I have four chickens and they are delightful, VERY easy to care for, and yes....my backyard looks like a pottery barn catalog. The chickens free range and my kids play barefoot all the time. No problem with poop. We have a large coop which we clean out about once a month, and add it to the compost which we use on our garden. I live in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in my city....million dollar houses up and down the street. My own neighbor didn't know about the chickens until I brought her eggs, which she thought was great. Apparently my neighbor three doors down also has a coop and about 10 chickens, although I only found out after my other neighbor mentioned it to me. Never would have known otherwise.