Chickens

We have a new neighbor. Single male, around 27 years old. Military (Army Reserves, Engineering Unit, Spec 4, in his seventh year, spent time overseas in Kuwait). Seems to be very responsible and level headed. Recently hired as a prison guard here in the RI State prison, working the 3-11 shift. Tough job. Got spit in the face by an inmate last night and shrugged it off as part of the job. I like him. He told me today that he's putting a chicken coop in his back yard that abuts mine. (No rooster, which is good). The town allows chickens as long as they're fenced, which he's doing. But the local covenants/restrictions of our specific housing development (now 40 years old) do not allow it. He didn't know that. The realtor should have told him. I like him and really don't want to be a dick and go to court over it. But I'm concerned about chicken noise and more importantly the chicken-poop smell. Anybody have any experience with chickens? Where the chickens will be roosting and ranging is about 15-20 feet from where Annie and I sit on summer mornings and have coffee and read in our idyllic neighborhood.

I should add that according to the covenants of the housing development, I would absolutely legally prevail. He was duped when he bought the property. But I would prefer to avoid that because I think he's a good person and didn't know the situation when he bought the house. If the chickens are a non-issue I'll drop this in a second. Please give me your thoughts about having chickens as close neighbors.

I think it will depend on how well he maintains the coop. My neighbor across the street has about a dozen chickens in a coop in their back yard, and they keep it meticulously clean - no problems with odor at all. The hens do a lot of soft clucking but it's all pretty low key, I think you need a rooster for that.

We've got four chickens in our back yard. We have a little less than a half acre in a subdivision. We clean the coup every 2 or 3 weeks and you can't smell a thing. The hens make a little noise when laying an egg, but it's not any near as annoying as a dog barking. Overall, they're nice to have around.

My neighbor has about 25 that roam the neighborhood. I've never noticed a smell even when they're in my yard. Once in a while the rooster gets loud but it's usually when he's chasing something off. If I didn't see them regularly I would know they were there.

We have 6 in the backyard, adding another 2 this spring. The smell is really minimal as long as the coop is maintained. They occasionally do some squawking, especially if there are hawks or other predators around, but they're generally pretty quiet, and quite entertaining when they're loose. Ours are also very friendly - they come when called and follow us around the yard.

As long as he keeps the coop clean, shouldn't smell. I had a neighbor behind me that kept chickens but didn't clean up after them. Smelled bad, couldn't use the back part of my back yard. I have .9 acre, most of it in the back. Couldn't smell it in the house but go halfway back into the yard definitely could. The roosters were noisy. Bothered my wife more than me. Also used to put deer carcass in the coop in the fall. Chickens don't eat it. Never figured out that one other than he was too lazy to get rid of it properly. Amazed me we didn't have more scavenger critters invade our yards around the neighborhood. He was an all around pain with other things to. Found out house was repo'd last fall, sheriff came around and gave them an hour to vacate premises. Guess he knew it was coming as he trashed the place. New owners did a great job cleaning up everything and redoing the house. They are quiet.
Daughter has a neighbor in town that has a couple chickens. Keeps it clean and you never know they are there.

If chickens aren't allowed then the slaughter and consumption of illegal fowl is deemed acceptable. Grapeseed oil, flour, buttermilk and Accent is in your future.

I'm appreciating everyone's responses. Keep all relevant comments coming.

One thing that helps a lot with our particular situation is having a moveable coop - AKA a chicken tractor. When they get their enclosed area all dug up and poopy and muddy, we just move it - and the grass grows thick and green in that spot. Ideally we would move it every 2 days or so so they don't completely demolish the lawn, but we're not great about doing it. Freerange is not a good option for us either since we have no fences and a significant predator population.

My neighbor has like 30 of them. No smell and we get free eggs every time we go over there

We keep between 7-10 hens at a time on our (admittedly large) property, no roosters. The only time you really will hear them is occasionally they like to flap at full speed across the yard when the dog runs through or when one goes back to the coop to lay and she's looking for the flock. We enjoy having the flock running around the yard and they eat ticks and other pest insects and all organic scraps. We've trained them to a cowbell that we ring when we throw the scraps into the run.

I built a chicken coop that is way bigger than needed (7'x7') with plenty of ventilation, so the only way you can smell it is if you're standing inside the coop. Due to the size & ventilation, I only have to clean it out 3 or 4 times a year. We're currently at 7 hens that are about 3 years old, and get 4-5 eggs a day. During the summer we end up giving eggs away every other week or so to neighbors and friends.

The pine shavings that are used in the coop are composted for a season and then tilled into the garden in the fall, it's a great fertilizer.

Overall, I'd say chickens are the best pets we've had yet. I only "have" to interact with them once a week for feeding and watering, but we generally let them out of the run whenever we're home and it's not miserable out. We get eggs and pest removal. That's a lot more than the cats have ever done for us!

Our neighbors have chickens, and they are great. And have had them for quite a while- they started when their daughter was in Jr Hi.

Only once or twice did they get a rooster, and that ended pretty quickly (I suspect his name was stew...)

I have never noticed the smell. And the noise isn't any different than the birds that are around us.

The only problem is that they occasionally poop on our front path. But for a trade off, they do a great job keeping the ground clean. Yes, they are more free- even though they do have a coop- where they always return.

Plus, we live in a very tight neighborhood. The coop is about 3 feet from the property line, which is just 4 feet from the back of my attached garage.

It's too bad that he will not likely get them- especially if he could have gotten some nicer ones- our neighbors started with some specialty eggs, so the birds are actually quite nice looking. Not just white.

In reply to WonkoTheSane:

What does your coop look like? I'm thinking of rebuilding this year since mine is about perfect for 6, but a little small for 8

Illicit chickens lead to illicit eggs. Illicit eggs make the neighbors who wouldn't care otherwise even happier. You should expect no real problems.

So, if you like the guy now, it's OK if he breaks the rules? He should be informed before he gets in too deep.

On chickens: We kept chickens when I was a kid - out in the country. And I've lived near folks who kept chickens. So I like chickens and several chicken products.

IFF (If and only if) things are kept clean, the smell isn't a problem. But there's no guarantee that he will do that, or that he'll stop at a few. Noise is another issue. Eventually, he'll want a rooster.

Just hope he doesn't get a rooster

There are a lot of factors at work here, but if we are talking about a small coop with like a half dozen hens, any noise and smell should be negligible. Less of both than if he gets a dog.

We always had chickens while I was growing up (in the country, agricultural area) and if done right the impact of chickens can be very low. My mother currently has three bantam hens that get locked up at night but are free range during the day in nice weather. They are small, quiet, and frankly near maintenance free. Just add food and water.

We've got 21 girls, a mix of Rhode Island Reds, Barred Rocks, white Leghorns, Australorps, and buff Orphingtons. No rooster, but 2nd house is under construction and the next dozen girls will probably include a rooster since we want to hatch out chicks to raise for fryers. We love our chickens, they're actually awesome to just chill out and watch them. You'll never need a garbage disposal, they eat everything (they're actually little velociraptors), and they really make very little noise and don't smell. Our neighbors dogs are 100 times more annoying than our chicks, for sure.

Thankfully I live in a rural area, so there are no HOA concerns..... I'm pretty sure the neighbors in a subdivision would have a bit more of a problem with the goats I'm about to get. :)

I wouldn't worry about neighbor, IMHO, unless he doesn't keep the coup up. You'll maybe even score some free fresh eggs if you're cool, fresh from the chicken eggs are 10X better than store bought.

cmcgregor wrote: In reply to WonkoTheSane: What does your coop look like? I'm thinking of rebuilding this year since mine is about perfect for 6, but a little small for 8

All I have is a really old picture before painting and trim, sorry. The newer pictures are on the phone I just broke and I haven't transferred them over. My big goal for the coop was that it wasn't an eyesore :)

The trick to make life easy is to raise the coop up so the floor height is about 3 or 4" taller than the yard cart/wheel barrow. I can clean the litter out in two yard cart trips using a snow shovel, easy jobs mean that it will get done :) I can also stand up in there so it's easier to work if needed. It also means the chickens have a place to hang out under the coop when it's raining/snowing. Windows are from Habitat for Humanity ReStore, T-111 outside and the roof is the semi-opaque acrylic stuff that's practically indestructible. The roof is vented where it overhangs the walls, so there's always some side draft; you don't want it to be ever be fully closed up. There's a 2x6 blocking the opening a bit so there's not too much cross wind, though.

I also put all the vent windows (at the top front & back) and run door on little pullies so I can open and close them without getting a ladder or going into the run.

This coop was made to "match" a shed that's next to it, so the color and trim match that now:

slantvaliant wrote: So, if you like the guy now, it's OK if he breaks the rules? He should be informed before he gets in too deep.

I mentioned the restrictions to him yesterday and intend to make a copy of them for him, which his realtor should have done.The town wouldn't enforce the restrictions. It would be up to an individual or group of neighbors bound by these same restrictions to take him to court. From everyone's feedback here it appears that chickens make good neighbors, and I'm inclined to let him proceed. But other neighbors could fight it. That's why I informed him, and that's what he needs to be concerned about.

Gary wrote: But other neighbors could fight it. That's why I informed him, and that's what he needs to be concerned about.

I'd echo the previous guy who recommended a chicken tractor then.. If he is forced to get rid of them, it's easier to sell that!

My sister has a chicken coop and during high productivity times she can't give away enough eggs. Your neighbor may find that a dozen eggs once a month to his adjoining landowners goes a long way toward smoothing any "ruffled feathers".

In reply to KyAllroad:

That's the truth. Most of the year, we get between 12-15 eggs a day. I'm sure a dozen eggs every week or so would make good bribery payments to any concerned neighbors.

our coop is 6x6 with a 14x6 run which they get closed up in at night to keep 'em safe from owls and possums (we found out the hard way that if they aren't closed up, bad things happen).

KyAllroad wrote: Your neighbor may find that a dozen eggs once a month to his adjoining landowners goes a long way toward smoothing any "ruffled feathers".

La mordida, but with eggs?