Should poultry be raised in cities, county communities or near any of these?

[Ifitaintbroke]

And after this whole thread, no one has stated exactly WHY chickens are a problem in urban/suburban areas. I agree that chickens should be kept responsibly, and I have seen some very irresponsibly kept chickens. But the OP seems to think that it can't or shouldn't be done.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

And after this whole thread, no one has stated exactly WHY chickens are a problem in urban/suburban areas. I agree that chickens should be kept responsibly, and I have seen some very irresponsibly kept chickens. But the OP seems to think that it can't or shouldn't be done.

So I think you said it though, chickens should be kept responsibly but there is no low level legislation to ensure that happens. Even if it does, it doesn't mean that what's good for one is good for all and you have to think of that, the smaller the community. What was good for me on TWO acres, was apparently bad for the people all around me. They didn't sign up for what my property brought. So instead of changing them, I changed myself. No one can be bothered by my small farm now. It's just really something to think about especially when we see these situations where people are in a HOA and get chickens and then can't understand why HOA rules apply to them becuase it's just so harmless....

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

So I think you said it though, chickens should be kept responsibly but there is no low level legislation to ensure that happens. Even if it does, it doesn't mean that what's good for one is good for all and you have to think of that, the smaller the community. What was good for me on TWO acres, was apparently bad for the people all around me. They didn't sign up for what my property brought. So instead of changing them, I changed myself. No one can be bothered by my small farm now. It's just really something to think about especially when we see these situations where people are in a HOA and get chickens and then can't understand why HOA rules apply to them becuase it's just so harmless....

My problem is the fact that most people have problems with other people having chickens. It is based almost completely on ignorance and pettiness. Yes, roosters are loud. Yes chickens can smell. These same people need to take a vacation to India then tell me that chickens next door are a problem. Americans, they're just ridiculous! We live in the most sanitized culture in the world. Most other people in the world don't have running water or electricity, let alone a 2500 Sq ft. house and a perfectly manicured lawn, plus 2 $40k cars in the driveway that they also don't have. I'm, sorry, but people are just silly. No offense, just venting a bit!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

My problem is the fact that most people have problems with other people having chickens. It is based almost completely on ignorance and pettiness. Yes, roosters are loud. Yes chickens can smell. These same people need to take a vacation to India then tell me that chickens next door are a problem. Americans, they're just ridiculous! We live in the most sanitized culture in the world. Most other people in the world don't have running water or electricity, let alone a 2500 Sq ft. house and a perfectly manicured lawn, plus 2 $40k cars in the driveway that they also don't have. I'm, sorry, but people are just silly. No offense, just venting a bit!

Completely true! But what can you do about it? Change people? Can you change the way they're going to vote too? I believe in changing myself if I don't like it instead of stressing over stupid people.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

Completely true! But what can you do about it? Change people? Can you change the way they're going to vote too? I believe in changing myself if I don't like it instead of stressing over stupid people.

Even truer! The world can fall apart and people will be the same.

 

[paradisepentacoop]

My problem is the fact that most people have problems with other people having chickens. It is based almost completely on ignorance and pettiness. Yes, roosters are loud. Yes chickens can smell. These same people need to take a vacation to India then tell me that chickens next door are a problem. Americans, they're just ridiculous! We live in the most sanitized culture in the world. Most other people in the world don't have running water or electricity, let alone a 2500 Sq ft. house and a perfectly manicured lawn, plus 2 $40k cars in the driveway that they also don't have. I'm, sorry, but people are just silly. No offense, just venting a bit!

That doesn't mean that they can't hope to expect better. Just because they have it better than someone else does not mean that they should have no complaints. Yes, privileged should be acknowledged. But also people have their own wants and desires that are rooted in their experience.

As for backyard chicken keeping, a lot of the people I have been influenced by and live around keep chickens in their backyard to know where their food is coming from and to be just a little more food secure. I acknowledge that I have privilege to live on an acre in an area that could not care less about people having a small flock of chickens. Its my little attempt to control what I can concerning our food sources.

And for the argument that people should not go out to eat or buy from grocery stores if they want to make change- that is downright ridiculous. Not everyone can afford to pay artisan prices if local or humanely raised food is available. Not everyone has the time, the resources, or the capacity to. Let alone raise their own. Everyone who can and does is a step in the right direction, in my book. Though I totally agree with the points about doing it in accordance with where you live to avoid conflict when possible. All on the bandwagon of responsible urban, suburban, and rural flocks~!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Even truer! The world can fall apart and people will be the same.

I'm not saying that I haven't given it a try, appeal to any spark of common sense or good nature a person has... But more often than not it's futile. When they put up all of the houses around me, my beautiful Himalayan cat who was used to roaming the open meadow that used to be there kept disappearing. I went door to door and was told that a family had been locking her in their garage . I put a collar on her with a letter, letting people know that she was loved and missed to tears by her owner, a loving 5 year old boy who didn't mean to let her slip past him out the door........ I found the collar at the end of the driveway and I was told the family moved away with my cat. WT even F with people?! I was OUT after that.....

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Haven’t noticed that personally but my guess would be trying to not get in trouble for having it too close to a house. If the plots are tight and the property division runs down the middle of the distance between two houses, safest place for distance rules is going to be as close to that midline as possible.

My friend has hers where it is solely because that's where the kennel was already put in before she bought her house.

 

[Ifitaintbroke]

That doesn't mean that they can't hope to expect better. Just because they have it better than someone else does not mean that they should have no complaints. Yes, privileged should be acknowledged. But also people have their own wants and desires that are rooted in their experience.

As for backyard chicken keeping, a lot of the people I have been influenced by and live around keep chickens in their backyard to know where their food is coming from and to be just a little more food secure. I acknowledge that I have privilege to live on an acre in an area that could not care less about people having a small flock of chickens. Its my little attempt to control what I can concerning our food sources.

And for the argument that people should not go out to eat or buy from grocery stores if they want to make change- that is downright ridiculous. Not everyone can afford to pay artisan prices if local or humanely raised food is available. Not everyone has the time, the resources, or the capacity to. Let alone raise their own. Everyone who can and does is a step in the right direction, in my book. Though I totally agree with the points about doing it in accordance with where you live to avoid conflict when possible. All on the bandwagon of responsible urban, suburban, and rural flocks~!

I understand that people will complain. And yes, people's views are based in their experience. I get that.

 

[CoopBoots]

I've taken a liberty and tried to condense/classify OP's stated reasons against; my classifications in  bold:

• Smell, flies, rodents (sanitation)
• noise (annoyance/human quality of life)
• pollution (chicken ), run off from poultry, Death loss disposal, disposal of in trails when harvesting (sanitation/sustainability)

My thoughts on each class of issue:

• Sanitation: Managed via coop/run cleaning, feed management, composting, and fertilization
• Annoyance: This is subjective to the individual in question, and is accounted for via zoning/HOA rules. It is on each person to know what they are zoned for or allowed on both sides
• Sustainability: Poop and bodies/entrails both function as fertilizer; no waste or pollution involved unless we're objecting to fertilizer itself as a pollutant? If so, then a backyard keeper is still doing less than a commercial one just based on numbers

Every stated issue is manageable in a backyard setting, so long as the flock is scaled appropriately and follows zoning/HOA standards.

I'm guessing the objection is more based around a judgement that backyard keepers do NOT do these things, and therefore should never be zoned to own chickens in the first place. I understand being frustrated with humans not "doing things right according to me" lol, because that happens all the time! But thankfully I don't have the power to revoke almost everyone's permission to drive just because a lot of them don't do it the way I think they should. Zoning and HOAs, if also imperfect, at least help establish expectations that greatly reduce the number of conflicts we'd have otherwise over items exactly like this.